Sonic and the Wrath of the Five Dragons
by Howlitzer
Summary: "Jailhouse Rock, Part 2". The wind carries a certain hero to the village of Chun-nan, where legends are apparently a bit more than they seem.
1. Bamboo Breeze, Act 1

She yawned after stepping out of her bathroom, taking a towel to her wet quills and furiously rubbing it across them to get the water out. She shrugged on a long t-shirt before continuing, grabbing a brush from beside the sink before she headed into her living space.

Opening the blinds in front of the nearby window, she felt the sunlight glance off her eyes for a moment before she adjusted, looking out at the bright day ahead. The cable box above the television displayed the time.

9:23 a.m.

Finished with the towel, she folded it up neatly before tossing it into her bedroom, perfectly of course. She let out a silent cheer before lying down on the sofa, content to relax for the day.

In the meantime, a certain someone was at a payphone booth, about 50 or so miles from the closest settlement, and one he knew well enough as the village of Chun-nan. Fishing in one of his pockets, he found an American quarter, knowing full well that literally every phone in the world accepted them. In some places, a quarter was something to be prized. He did prize them himself, but for an entirely different reason.

Without looking, he punched in the numbers at high speed, waiting for the delay to end before the numbers beeped in the receiver, following one another closely.

She stared at the ceiling of the apartment, only snapped out of her thoughts by the phone ringing near her head. She reached back and put it close to her ear as she answered.

"Amy Rose speaking."

"Heya, Ames."

A smile came to her lips then, and her green eyes began to sparkle.

"Hey, Sonic. Long time no hear."

"Well, you know, I've been getting around lately."

"I've heard." She kicked at the air as she spoke. "You feeling better?"

"Yeah. Running's been great."

"Told ya."

"Yeah, yeah…how are things at home?"

"Not bad at all. I told everyone that you left."

"Oh," he said, feeling a bit guilty about his sudden departure. "How'd they take it?"

"Mm…other than Vector complaining about the lack of cases they could take on with you gone, pretty well. Nobody's complaining. I think they were all wondering when you'd eventually take off, anyways."

"Really? Well, I guess that's a good thing to know. Glad I'm not missed too much around there. Speaking of that…"

"Yeah?"

"Do you miss me, Ames?"

"Nope," she said confidently. Truth be told, every time that she closed her eyes, she could feel like he was there. It was as if he had never left, which was a good thing, of course.

"Good. But just tell me if you do, okay?"

"Yup. I'll let you know," she said with a smile. "Do you miss me, Sonic?"

"Not yet. That kiss felt like five seconds ago."

"I guess I feel the same way, then."

"Naturally," he said with a cocky grin. Amy rolled her eyes playfully on the other side of the phone. "Anyways…I'll be gone a while. Trying to, you know, find myself or something. Either that, or just run 'till I can't run anymore, whichever comes first."

"You have fun, Sonic. I'll be waiting right here," she said, twirling the phone cable around her finger.

"I know. I'll be back as soon as I can, Ames."

"Don't rush," she advised. "I'm a patient girl."

"Right." Sonic stopped a moment as he felt something…something guiding him in a certain direction. The more he paid attention, the more he realized that it was a cool breeze blowing past him. The booth wasn't that solid, so that explained the wind rushing in, but it felt like he was being _urged_ to move in that particular direction.

His mind flashed back to the lettering on the right arm of his jumpsuit. Why _she_ had given him _that name_ was still a mystery, but it now seemed to have something to do with this, he assumed.

And assume was the only thing he could do at this point.

"Everything okay, Sonic?"

"Nothing too serious," he answered honestly. "Just got an odd feeling…I'm gonna head to Chun-nan down the road."

"You think something's up?" Amy had come to realize that Sonic was more attuned to his surroundings than ever before, if his actions were any indication. He seemed to be able to react on a complete whim, letting himself act before the rest of him actually caught up. His instincts had grown by leaps and bounds, and while 5 years was a long time, she got the feeling that maybe there was a little something _extra_ involved in his development.

The thing was, if he knew about it, he wasn't saying anything. Not much of anything, anyways.

"Might be. You know how I've got a nose for trouble, Ames."

She nodded silently, touching the nearby lamp with her toes in the meantime. "It's not a bad thing, though."

"You're right. It isn't…so I'm gonna see what's going down."

"Okay. Talk to you later, then?"

"Of course. Love you, Amy."

"Love you lots, Sonic." She kissed the receiver as she always did before hanging up. Sighing to herself, she moved around to lie upside down on the sofa, staring upwards again in thought.

_Sonic should be fine for the next little while. But…I can't stop thinking about him. Not that I want to,_ she mused with a grin. _Still, I think I should put some time into something else as well…mmm…_

Her eyes rested on the upright piano that was on one side of the room. Beside that was her digital keyboard. A large, white case contained her cello, and next to that was a blue electric guitar that she purchased on a whim, along with an amplifier.

_When was the last time I played it…right. That was when Sonic was showing me that song. 'Can't Stop, So What?', I think it was. Probably should practice…or…_

An idea came to her head, and she put herself upright as she reached for the phone. She closed her eyes and imagined Sonic running through different places. That adventure all that time ago…she remembered from her hugs the lovely smells he involuntarily would bring back in his fur. China smelled like…

Yes, she could remember it clearly.

"Hello?" the voice on the other end called out.

"Tails, good morning."

"Oh, mornin' Amy. Everything's okay?" he said a bit sleepily.

"Yes, just fine. Listen, I need a favour."

"Anything," he said sincerely. There wasn't much he _wouldn't _do for his older sister, as he now thought of her affectionately.

"The photos from the trip with Sonic, when the world was split by Dark Gaia. They still around?"

"Yeah. Sonic took a lot of his things to a certain place, though. A studio apartment, in uptown Station Square. I have the master key for everything here at my place."

"Oh, okay. I guess we'll go together to look, then."

"Actually, Amy…he intended that place for _you_."

She blinked. "Me? Why? And how long…?"

"About a few weeks before he left again. He said that everything was paid for, lights, water, all of that. If you wanted to stay there for however long, it would be your choice. And you have to give your okay before anyone else could go inside. He recommended that you look over _everything _first."

"Everything…huh." The feeling of dread that should have come simply didn't arrive. Instead, Amy was curious at this new development. Looking at the guitar in the corner, she felt that she would need to bring it along…and that would be it for supplies, she supposed.

"Well…thank you, Tails. I guess I'll go check it out today. See you in a bit."

"Okay. Have you eaten yet, Amy?"

"Mm…" She scratched her head. "I'll have a light snack before I come over. Whip me up something?"

"You got it," he replied with a flash of Sonic confidence. She hung up and took to brushing her long quills into that familiar style everyone knew and loved, just a bit grown up. Not feeling very motivated to dress stylishly, she put on a pair of sweatpants and laced up a pair of sneakers. She picked up some sunglasses off of a nearby table and took some fruit along with yogurt from her fridge.

The guitar was secured safely on her back, and she bit into a peach as she locked her front door.

* * *

><p>She <em>always<em> did this, he realized. Then again, it was his own fault for accepting her challenge so readily.

The stocky young man stalked silently through the bamboo, trying to find the one he was looking for…

"Time's up."

He rubbed his black hair in frustration as a hand was placed on his shoulder. "How do you _do that_?"

"Do what?" the voice asked, innocently.

"_That._ All that hiding and being so quiet…"

He felt a hand pat his stomach and frowned. "You know that has _nothing _to do with it-"

It rumbled loudly, as if on cue.

"No. But _that_ does," the girl said with a smile. "Come on, I bet Grandma's finished making more buns."

"Really? Well, let's get moving, then."

Yilin could only smile and roll her eyes at her brother as he jogged back to the village. At least their hide-and-seek challenges had gotten more fun over the years, and Chun had managed to get…well, in _relatively_ good shape for someone who ate so many meat buns in a single sitting.

As she sprinted to catch up, she noted that they were passing the Five Dragons' Shrine as usual. She liked to visit the place alone whenever she had the time. It was mesmerizing, looking at the huge golden statue that stood there. Five dragons, four pointing in the cardinal directions while one was frozen in a fierce roar, looking towards the skies above. What she found the most interesting was the fact that each of them had different coloured eyes…

"Yilin, come on!"

She stood frozen in place, and Chun sighed as he doubled back towards her.

"Yilin…"

"Run…"

"…What'd you…"

"Run…please, run away, Chun. As fast as you can. Tell grandfather that something's happening with the shrine."

"Yilin, this isn't-"

"I said to run, you idiot!" At that moment, an arrow of black light shot towards the two. Yilin pushed Chun out of the way and dove herself, only to have the light go through her arm.

"Hey…hey! Yilin, say something!" Chun was frantic, panicking as he saw his sister's arm change colour.

She looked at her arm in amazement, watching the darkness fade and then disappear completely. There was a strange glowing from the bracelet on her wrist…the one that was from Mazuri.

She knew that she had never been to Mazuri.

But _he_ had.

"The legends…they're…"

"Sis…what's going on?" Chun said, fear in his voice.

"Something big." As the wind blew past her, Yilin noted the glowing light start to brighten. "Something _really_ big. Come on, we'll get some food in you and then tell grandma and grandpa about this."

"R-Right."

As the two headed home at a full tilt, Yilin had the feeling that this wasn't going to sit well at all with the villagers…despite the fact that the things he had been accused of turned out to be false. He was _still_ the bad guy in their eyes.

_Sonic the Hedgehog: former hero, ex-convict, __**God of Wind**__. One of these things is not like the others…_

Yeah...

They were going to _flip_.

* * *

><p>an: Welcome to _Jailhouse Rock, Part 2: Wrath of the Five Dragons_. This picks up from where we left off with _Exchange_ _Rate_, and while that was an emotional journey, this'll be more of an adventure. But I won't stray from what I built on earlier, so I hope you all enjoy this. Questions and comments are welcomed – I'll build myself up from them.


	2. Bamboo Breeze, Act 2

"Wow…"

Amy let out a gasp as she entered the apartment that Sonic had left for her. It was enormous compared to her own, which she didn't mind, but…this was on an entirely different level.

Contrary to what she had assumed, it was clean, cleaner than Tails' workshop was. Whenever she had been in there, she had always thought that it was Sonic leaving the messes to clean up, but after watching the fox over the years, she realized that _he_ was the one who created the most litter, neglecting cleaning his home as he worked hard on his equipment. At least when he was done, he would leave the place spotless before going back to work…she had made sure of that with repeated scoldings.

But what impressed her the most were the things she saw lined up. Souvenirs from distant places, battle trophies taken from the wrecks of Eggman's machines, and medals of all sorts that hung upon the walls. Sonic had no less than _twenty_ 'Keys to Station Square' hanging on his back wall near the clutter of special medals. Rare sculptures sat on glass displays, and as Amy looked down, she could see her reflection on the marble floor. She could feel how cool it was through her socks.

"Just how much did he spend on this place…?"

She moved to the kitchen, noting the sleek look of it and the black marble that made up nearly everything. All sorts of pots and pans…oh, they were the same brand that she liked to use, too. He really _had_ intended this place for her, and her alone.

The refrigerator was nice and cool, making her breath condense as she opened the door. She shivered as she looked into the freezer beside it, noting that both were stocked with food. Among the 'normal' things that she would eat, there was a wealth of jumbo-sized hot dogs. She smiled and decided to take out a pack, boiling them on the stove while she took out a few jalapeno peppers, along with garlic, onions, a herb called cumin, and ground beef.

"Alrighty, then…let's see if I can't do this right, for once." Rubbing her hands, she got started.

She had been surprised to learn that Sonic was actually a great cook, and had asked if he had learned that in prison as well. He laughed and told her that he picked up his skills from Vanilla, Cream's mother.

As if on cue…

"Hello?" Amy said as she picked up her phone.

"Hello, Amy!"

"Hey, Cream. What's up?"

"Nothing really, I just wanted to see how you were doing," the rabbit replied. "You're okay, right?"

"Of course I am, don't worry. I'm just doing some cooking right now."

"You're not at home?" she asked curiously. She had called Amy's place earlier and got the answering machine.

"Nope, I'm at Sonic's place."

"Mister Sonic has a house?"

"More of a studio apartment. I'd have you over, but there are some things that I need to look over first. Sonic's orders."

"Ah, I understand." She smiled. "Talk to you later, then?"

"Yeah, for sure. You can call me anytime, like I said earlier."

"Okay, Amy."

"Ciao, Cream." She put down the phone as the call ended, realizing that she'd forgotten to ask something. Shrugging and deciding it could wait, she started to chop the peppers while looking out to the living space. There, she had noticed a few things that she hadn't before. When she was done with this, she'd make sure to take a closer look.

* * *

><p>Sonic easily pulled off a series of flying kicks, landing perfectly on the ground before launching into a chain of motions, the invisible opponent matching his every movement. His blocks and movements were clean and precise, yet flexible enough to keep him out of trouble.<p>

He finished his sequence and bowed deeply.

"As expected of the successor to the Linshao Style," a voice said with pride.

"I'm humbled, Teacher," Sonic replied.

"Haha, no need for that, now. I think you've long surpassed me, maybe even for a while now. But remember…"

"Yeah, got it. It's our little secret. I'll see you around, Shuifon."

The man nodded. "Alright, then. Take care, Sonic."

The blue hedgehog placed his hands behind his head before walking about the village. Amazingly enough, he was only an hour behind Station Square's time at the moment, seeing as he was relatively close to the West Coast in America. That meant that he could keep in contact with Amy a lot easier, which was awesome.

The village of Chun-nan still looked as beautiful as ever, though Sonic realized that there had been some very modern changes to the surroundings. Electric lights popped up periodically as he walked, and some windows were being changed to glass ones as opposed to the open style they all had before. The place was still distinctly traditional in many ways, but it was obvious that an outside influence had been creeping up in recent times.

Sonic figured out why soon enough, as a familiar young woman walked across the nearby bridge. Her shirt had 'ECU Medical' on the front of it, and she wore faded black jeans. Her hair was tied back into a bun and she chewed on bubblegum as she strolled by. She passed by the blue hedgehog before stopping to look back at him.

"Hey…is that…?"

"Yo. How's it going, Hualin?" he said with a wave.

"No way! Sonic, I can't believe it!" She ran back to him and embraced him in a hug. "I should have figured it was you, but I didn't believe it at first. Uh…so you were really in…?"

"Yeah, I was. It wasn't too bad, considering." He shrugged.

"Well, you've always been an optimist, right?"

"I suppose. You're looking okay, and I hear around town that you're into medicine now?"

"Thanks, and yeah. I've been studying at Empire City University, as you can probably guess," she said while gesturing to her top. "I owe Grandpa Zonshen for that. And apparently, they're trying to lure Chun into playing football for the varsity squad in the future."

"Really?" he said with an eyebrow raised. "That's interesting to hear, good for him."

"You've seen how the place has been changing, right? We've gotten some business-minded tourists lately, since I've been over to America. Of course, the wicked meat buns I cook up don't hurt, either."

"You finally got the hang of it, huh?" Sonic said with a smile.

"Total understatement," she smiled back. "Grandma tried to stop me from going to school because of it. Apparently, I'm _that_ good."

"Mind if I get a sample or two?"

She laughed. "Thought you'd never ask, Sonic. You go on ahead, I'll catch up."

"Okay, sounds like a deal." She gave him a thumbs-up before taking off. "Hm…everyone's grown up pretty fast. She has a much cooler head than when I first knew her. That's good, then. She's changing for the better." He walked towards the restaurant, taking a seat in one of the chairs while he waited.

"No, Mother. I don't think we'll need all that many. Hold on a moment while I check-"

The woman almost dropped the pitcher of water she was carrying as she saw the blue hedgehog sitting at the table. She scrambled back into the kitchen, putting down the pitcher before calling for the shop's owner.

"Mother! _Mother!_"

The diminutive Lin stood on a bar stool, mixing her ingredients as her daughter Jinlin let out a harsh whisper from across the kitchen.

"Mother, _he's_ in there! I don't believe it, _he's actually out there!_"

Lin raised her head for a moment. "Who?"

"It's _him_."

"Jinlin…_who_?"

"_Him!_"

The old woman rolled her eyes and hopped down from the stool. "Finish that up for me, Jinlin. I'll go and see what the _disturbance_ is," she said, emphasizing a certain word in a sarcastic manner. Pushing open the door, she spotted the aforementioned _him_ sitting alone at a table.

_For the love of…_

Lin sighed heavily and made her way to the table. Her visitor picked his head up and gave her a grin. "Mornin' to you, Granny Lin! It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Indeed it has been, child. You've returned from prison a much bolder young man than usual." She hopped onto a chair, making herself slightly taller than the hedgehog as he sat.

"You always could read a hedgehog like a book, Gran. Still serving up those buns?"

"You know it."

"Excellent stuff. Oh, I ran into Hualin earlier. She seems well."

"She has tempered herself in recent years, I'm happy to say."

"I hear she whips up a mean meat bun."

"_Total_ understatement," Lin said with a smile. Her daughter walked out of the kitchen with a pitcher of water and a plastic smile for her guest.

"Good morning, Mister Hedgehog."

"Good mornin' to you, Miss Jinlin. I hope everything's been well."

"It has been. Would you like some water, Mister Hedgehog?"

"I would, thank you."

"Would you like anything else?" she asked, her smile nearly beginning to crack. Sonic had already noticed it, but decided not to embarrass her.

"Nothing else. It's really nice to see you again, ma'am. And thank you."

"You're very welcome, Mister Hedgehog." She walked away without another word.

"Sonic-" He waved a hand at Lin before she could start.

"It's cool. Some people still don't think much of me. I keep reading about how I must've bribed a few people to get out of the joint, or how the government is covering up a massacre by releasing me, or I'm part of some secret operation as part of my sentence…it's all the same. Long as I can run, and I have _her _with me, nothing else matters."

"Ah, so you've given that young girl a chance, have you?" Lin asked with a knowing smile.

"Well…it all happened really fast. I mean, it wasn't just like _that_, we actually had a rough journey together. At first, I was trying to comfort her, just make her feel better. But the more I kind of lied to her, the more I actually _wanted_ those lies to all come true. For her sake. And then we just started clicking, and talking, and wanting to be together." He smiled. "I was a weird kid, Gran. I always thought that a relationship would slow me down, but now that she's at my back, I can go faster than I ever thought I could. It's nuts, and I love it. I love her more than anything in the world."

"Love is a powerful thing, child."

"Don't I know it! I thought of her the whole time I was locked up, and it pulled me through each day nearly without a hitch to speak of. She…is really _that_ amazing," he said with a huge grin.

"I hope the buns can at least compare," Lin said with a smile.

"I tend to put food in a different category for that reason alone," he quipped back. He turned his head as some loud speaking started to filter in from the outside. At first, it sounded confusing to him, but he then tuned himself into the language and had little trouble understanding.

"Hualin, this is serious! I'm not joking with you, I swear it!"

"That's a little too far-fetched for-"

"Chun saw it, too!"

"What's going on?" Lin asked in the same tongue. "You sound frantic, girl."

"The shrine, Grandmother! I…I can't describe what happened so simply, but it's awakened-!"

"Are you sure it wasn't just your imagination?"

The fretful talking continued, with Sonic's eyes flickering about the room until they rested on the glowing bracelet, the one on Yilin's wrist. He had a…very strange feeling about it.

"That's the bracelet I got you from Mazuri, right, Yilin?" he cut in suddenly. While everyone else looked at him with confusion (since he hadn't known Mandarin the last time they all met), Yilin nodded and continued her hurried explanation. "Yes! It glowed when the dragons attacked us, and when the wind blew, and now it's glowing because you're here!"

Jinlin stepped out of the kitchen just then. "What's going on? Is there a problem?" Her husband Wang walked inside to the commotion from the entrance. "Everything okay, you guys? I heard the yelling out there."

"Yilin was telling me about her bracelet, how it was glowing all of a sudden. She thinks it's reacting to my presence," Sonic replied.

"Wait, you can speak-"

"There are legends about the Five Dragons' Shrine, and one that stuck out at me the most," Yilin continued. "That the only one who could match, or even exceed the power of the Five Dragons in this era, after the War of the Blazing Sky, was the God of Wind."

Her eyes met his, and she hesitated a moment before speaking again. "Sonic…you…you're him."

"I'm who?"

"You're the-"

"Just wait a moment, Yilin! Don't jump to conclusions like that!"

"Mom-!"

"The God of Wind is a benevolent, kind, and caring god, always protecting the weak, the innocent, and the righteous! So what you're saying doesn't add up!" she yelled.

"Jinlin, do not say something that you will regret," Lin warned.

"It is absolutely _impossible_ for a _common criminal_, for a _murderer_ to be anything close to a god in any-"

"Mom, stop!"

She froze for a moment at her youngest daughter's voice, and all eyes then turned to the hedgehog, who simply stood there with a neutral look on his face. Nothing was there, not even a hint of anger at what had been said about him.

"I guess I'm makin' you all a bit antsy, yeah? Well, I think I can fix that problem pretty easily. I'll just roam around the countryside for a bit 'till everything settles down."

"But-! Sonic!" Yilin yelled out. He simply smiled and rested a hand on the teenager's shoulder.

"Don't you worry about me. I'll be back in a few hours. Can we meet at the Temple of Gaia, down the way? Tell Gramps to come along, too. I'm thinking he might know a lot more about this legend than either of us, you know?"

She nodded solemnly. "Promise you'll be back?"

"You set a time, I'll keep to it."

"One o' clock."

"Deal," he said with a thumbs-up. "I'll try out the buns later, guys. Gotta jet." In a swift motion, he had disappeared through the village and into the forests beyond.

"No matter what you or anyone else says…I'll always believe," Yilin said before running out of the shop herself. Chun looked back once before following.

"I'm gonna go and get started on the buns," Hualin said with irritation. "Let me know when you're ready, Mom." She walked behind the swinging doors and into the kitchen.

"He has suffered enough pain for one lifetime. You could have let it be," Lin said.

"No, I could _not_."

The old woman sighed. "Only a difference between us, I suppose. I'll help Hualin in the kitchen."

"…"

"Mother's right," Wang said. "He's been through enough, hasn't he?"

"Obviously not. Five years out of a lifetime sentence?"

He sighed himself, as defeated as his mother-in-law. "I don't suppose I'll change your way of thinking any time soon. I'll be in the back, balancing the books. Tell me if you need to talk," he said as he walked away.

"…God of Wind…impossible," she muttered to herself. Shaking the thought out of her mind, she took to tidying up the shop.


	3. Bamboo Breeze, Act 3

"Mmm…smells delish," Amy said to herself. She didn't know if it was because she hung out with Sonic, but her appetite had been growing in recent times. Perhaps the extra running had to do with it?

She shrugged the thought off. Not like she was gaining any weight, anyways. Whistling to herself, she placed the hot dogs into buns and then poured her homemade chilli over them, adding a mix of cheeses on top before declaring them finished. With a smile, she bit into one and confirmed it a success. Now she could confidently make some for Sonic when he stopped by next.

Strolling into the living space just outside of the kitchen, she made her way over to the 'closet' area, which looked entirely too large for what it was. She placed the plate down on a coffee table and opened the doors, revealing a wide-screen television, one of those LCD ones. There was a home theatre system hooked up to the walls as well, though she suspected it hadn't seen much use besides for music.

Amy looked around the room as everything began to filter in. Just ahead of the doors was the reclining sofa, backed nearly to the windows. To the right was the 'closet' with the television and other things, tucked away in a corner on a rolling platform. To the extreme left was the kitchen, and in between that, the various things that Sonic had collected over the years. Just south of the kitchen were the – quite spacious – bedrooms, three of them in total. The bathroom was up from the kitchen area, at least one of them was. The other she remembered had been separated from the doorway by a _very_ thick wall, and that went for the others as well. It was like Fort Knox in there once she locked the door.

The windows gave a nice view of the city, and let in a good amount of light, going so far as to scatter it around the room, even. Amy looked at them and noted that some kind of special material was used to make them. Sonic likely asked for it to be that way.

Two large, comfortable sofas lay in some of the apartment's empty space, with low tables in front of them. However, the thing that interested Amy the most was what was in nearly every corner of the apartment: music. From vinyl 45s to 8-tracks to CDs and more, there were copies of music everywhere, all in their original casings. Black cases connected to outlets on the floor stared back at her. She opened each one to find that they all held a different way of playing music, from the turntable to the tape deck and so on.

The music had been organized neatly, almost obsessively (never thought she would use that word to describe Sonic of all people) if Amy had to say. She found the laptop on the table and opened it up, noting with wonder that it was already connected – wirelessly - to the apartment's sound system along with everything else. Folders sorted everything neatly again, and she clicked on the folder of the moment.

'China'.

The room suddenly came to life with exotic melodies, and Amy simply clicked 'Shuffle' on the music player before reaching for a chilli dog and leaning back on the sofa.

_I could get used to this,_ she thought to herself with a smile.

* * *

><p>"Everyone's here. I guess we can get started."<p>

Sonic had made it to the appointed meeting place early, with Yilin and her grandfather Zonshen already there. Chun had decided to pass on the meeting, citing 'emotional distresses' as the cause. Sonic guessed 'wimp' wasn't an accurate enough _diagnosis_.

"I suppose that we should walk to the shrine from here. Grandfather can explain things on the way," Yilin said. She then covered her mouth and looked to Sonic regretfully. "I'm sorry. I'll start speaking in English, Sonic."

"Don't worry about me. I can hear you just fine."

She smiled. "Oh, okay. If that's the case, then we'll start talking like this," she said in her native Mandarin. "Grandfather?"

"Right, right." Zonshen cleared his throat. "Many ages ago, the War of the Blazing Sky threatened to tear apart the Earth itself, causing the planet to become unstable in the process and wipe out all life. The gods were duelling over control of the Earth and their individual pride. Water, Fire, Earth, and Wind."

"That's based off of the _Mahābhūta,_ if I've got it right?"

Yilin looked at him curiously. "_Mahābhūta_?"

"The 'Four Great Elements', from Buddhism. But that shrine has five dragons, so I'm thinking that's all based on the _Wu Xing_."

"You'd be right, Sonic. The dragons represent each part of the Five Phases: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. Now, as I was saying…the gods duelled for many, many years, until Wind realized the harm he and the others were causing to the people. He urged the others to stop, but they would not listen. Fire, understanding his plight, rushed in to help, also wanting the fighting to end or there would be nothing left of the Earth and its people.

Knowing what needed to be done, Fire tried to absorb the hatred that ran through everyone, but could not fully do so before collapsing and becoming corrupted, changing into the flames we know today. The warmth of an open fire is proof that there is still love left in that goddess, but as you can see, fire can spread out of control incredibly quickly, consuming everyone and everything in its path without remorse.

Wind flew into a rage and sent the other two gods crashing into the planet below. Water became part of the oceans and rules over them, always trying to reach high into the air just to get back at Wind, while trying to torment Earth at the same time. Earth is what we walk on, a punishment for what had happened in the battle.

It is said that every time a storm brews, it is Wind going into a rage for what happened to Fire, slamming both Earth and Water against each other in anger. Wind has taken to roaming about the planet in his grief, never staying in one place for too long, or able to stop at all. Instead, he winds about eternally. Fire constantly cries out for Wind, and he occasionally obliges her at the cost of the inhabitants of the planet, but only for a short while before he moves on…and sometimes, he never arrives, leaving Fire to weep as she slowly withers to nothing."

"Wow…"

"I never heard the entire story before, Grandfather…that's amazing…"

"The God of Wind is said to be a just and powerful hero, able to exceed any power that tries to reach him. He has no known limits, according to the legend. Fire, Earth, and Water have fallen, so it is only he that could take on the darkness in this world. With the help of the Gaia Phoenix, many priests sealed the Five Great Dragons into golden statues ages ago, after the fall of the Four Gods."

"You mean like the ones at the entrance, Grandfather?"

He shook his head. "Those are merely figures. The real dragons lay deeper inside of the actual shrine, hidden away from curious Westerners," he said with a chuckle. "Wouldn't want any ancient evils released in error, would we?"

"Eh…I'm used to it," Sonic said truthfully. Not counting a few instances, he had fought ancient (or at least really old) evil a couple times already. Dark Gaia being the most recent, and that was quite a trip, in every sense of the word. He still remembered Dark Gaia ripping the power out of him like cheap Velcro, wincing at the very _thought_ of it.

"Nonetheless, you are a personification of the God of Wind, though still mortal…well, to an extent, anyways."

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "To an _extent_? Gramps, does that mean I'll become _less_ mortal as time goes on?"

"If the legends read true…in a nutshell, yes. I believe it's already started, anyways."

"Already? Since when?"

Zonshen smiled at that point. "Tell me, how did you get here?"

Sonic realized the question he was being asked. "I followed the wind as it blew by. _Something_ told me to come around here."

"And has there been anything strange you've noticed?"

"I…think I can ID my friends by scent, though it's not like…_normal_. I mean, I smell cherry blossoms and rose petals with Amy. Shadow smells oddly clean, like a hospital but more pleasant. Knuckles smells like a forest, and Rouge smells like nice perfume that doesn't offend my nose. Tails is like the crisp air at about 35 thou up, Cream's like lollipops and bubblegum. Espio smells kind of like incense, the nice kind. Charmy smells a bit like honey, and Vector…well, you know what a stack of fresh currency smells like? Exactly like that. Oh, and Omega smells like…an open fire. Kind of cool in hindsight, I guess."

"You weren't freaked out?" Yilin asked.

"A little at first. I realized that it wasn't what they _actually_ smelled like, and that helped a lot. Afterwards, it was kind of natural."

"Scents of the spirit, I see," the village elder noted.

Sonic snapped his fingers. "Yeah, that. I also feel like I'm running a bit faster these days, and I can avoid obstacles at higher speeds. I mean, I _have_ been training, but I usually feel like I'll hit a wall at some point. I don't feel that right now…kind of scary to think about, you know? I'm not able to gauge myself too well anymore." He sighed. "In any case, I _might_ be this God of Wind you're talking about. So what do I do next, in that instance?"

"The legends here only go so far," Zonshen admitted. "I'm afraid it's up to you to decide what to do next from here on."

"Seriously?" He frowned, not really liking the sound of that. _Call Amy for advice_ was the first thing that came to mind. She'd know what to do.

"Well…" He felt his stomach rumble. "Lunch break first?"

"Of course, go right ahead."

"Wanna come with, Yilin?" She blinked before nodding furiously.

"Of course! Um, but how…"

"No worries!" He swept her off her feet and carried her in his arms, watching with a smile as she blushed. Her arms wrapped his neck, and with a 'Hold tight' from Sonic, they were off. Zonshen smiled to himself at the sight as he took his time walking to the village, admiring the scenery.

He truthfully didn't know what exactly lied ahead for the young warrior, and so he hoped for the best in his journey. Although…it was a great reassurance that Sonic was indeed the legendary God of Wind – he fit the persona perfectly.

But…if what he had heard was true, there would be people out for the hedgehog's head in due time.

He just hoped that he was utterly wrong.


	4. Hurricane Touchdown, Act 1

a/n: I suppose we'll get into things. Happy to know that people are reading and like where I'm trying to go. Just keep wishing me luck.

On with the show.

* * *

><p>"Sorry, Sonic. I couldn't find anything of value on the internet about the legends...apparently, it's a very, very old story and obscure as heck."<p>

"S'alright, Ames. Thanks for trying. I've got the books on me anyways, so I just need some helpful advice."

"I'm your girl, then."

Borrowing a cordless phone from Lin's shop, Sonic was currently talking to Amy about the things he had encountered. Jinlin had come out to clean after the afternoon rush, and the hedgehog tried to ignore the hateful stare burning into the back of his head.

"Ames, I'm getting really close to just flat out embarrassing this little-"

"Be calm, Sonic. I think she'll come around in time. They usually do, right?"

He rubbed his temples. "I guess. But she needs to let up at least a little. Anyways..."

"The legends. What do the books say?" Amy asked.

"They're all in Mandarin. Guess I lucked out when I got that language course...it was fun as heck, too. But the one I have here has some details. The God of Wind had some special powers...there's the _Left Hand of Salvation_ and the _Right Hand of Destruction_. I think it lines up since I use Sonic Wind from the right hand, anyways. But I haven't pulled that one out in years."

"Your sword hand's also right, right?"

"That's right-o," Sonic quipped back. "Speak of the devil, there's a legendary blade around, too. Man, that's gonna take me back some...wonder if I still have the touch, though the Linshao Style works with weapons easily enough."

"You sure that you're the _only_ successor to the style, Sonic?"

He shrugged reflexively, as if she was beside him in the room. "If I'm not, I won't exactly complain. But I see no reason for Shuifon to make something like that up."

"You're probably right. Anyways, let's move on. What else is there?"

"The God of Wind and the Goddess of Fire were apparently close. Not really as lovers or anything, but as best friends and rivals. They had their stubborn streaks and were pretty prideful, not wanting to back away from any challenge the other made...what's so funny, Ames?"

"I think these legends are a little _too_ true to life, Sonic. Stubbornness is definitely your department, among other things..." she replied with a giggle.

"So says Miss Indecisive."

"Hey! I'll have you know that the choice between ivory white and eggshell white was one of the biggest decisions of my life!" she said with a mocking pride.

"What a life," he said with a smile. She blew him a raspberry from the other end of the phone.

"Meanie. Let's get back to the legends and whatnot. What else does the book say?"

"Hold on, I've tapped out this one." He closed one book and opened up another on the table, taking a few seconds out to grab a meat bun from the plate nearby. "Lemme see here...there's more on the shrine. The first part that everyone can see is a front, according to Gramps. In actuality, it's a massive tomb...five of 'em, actually. One for each of the dragons."

"Why five, Sonic?"

"They follow the principle of the _Wu Xing_, or the Five Elements in Chinese lore. Fire, Water, Wood, Earth, and Metal. All of them can either feed into each other or counteract each other. Just search it up, you'll be able to see what I mean."

"Wu Xing, was it?" she asked.

"Yup."

She typed the term into a search engine and got results immediately. "There's a lot about it here, Sonic."

"Naturally. It's one of the things that Western culture is obsessed with. Kung fu, too."

"How strong do you think those dragons are?" she asked. If Dark Gaia taught her anything, it was _not _to underestimate legendary creatures of great power.

"Can't really say. I know it'll be an uphill battle, though. It took a bunch of priests, Shaolin monks, and the Phoenix to put 'em all down. Odds aren't exactly stacked in my favour, Ames."

"You'll be careful, right?"

"No guarantees, Ames."

"Figures," she said with a sigh. "Can you _try _a no-damage run for me, at least?"

"I'm down for it. We'll see how far it goes."

"That's all I ask. Hey, you have a _lot_ of music, you know that? Did you just sit around here all day listening to it?"

"'Round here...?" He came up blank for a moment before realizing what she meant. "Oh, you found the place! Tails told you, I guess."

"Yeah. How come you didn't let me know?"

"S'posed to be a surprise, but I figured that if you found it, you found it. How's everything?"

"It's beautiful, Sonic. I was surprised enough when I stepped in."

"Cool. Make sure to check out everything, 'kay?"

"I will. Now, where were we?"

"We were talking about the dragons, Ames. I've been through all of the books and they're vague as all get-out...to enter the tombs, you need to go through some kind of trial dealie. Then you have separate trials for each of the dragons, and in the end they either...give you their power or just kill you on the spot."

"What? That doesn't make any sense. Isn't the purpose of the trial to determine whether or not you're fit to accept the power in the first place?"

"Apparently, it doesn't work out quite like that," Sonic said with a scowl. "The mythical dragons are said to be 'temperamental'."

"You mean like Knuckles is _temperamental_ when Rouge tries to steal the Master Emerald. Or like Shadow was _temperamental_ when he tried to destroy all life on Earth. Or like Eggman was _temperamental_...actually, he was just mental, so never mind."

"It's something like that, Ames. I think 'temperamental' is a swap for 'homicidal tendencies'." He looked at the next page over. "Oh, this is something great. On top of that, they have a 'bottomless hatred' for the God of Wind, since he would just backhand them daily whenever they tried to attack him, and he also possessed a pure heart that 'repulsed' the dragons since they were kind of the incarnation of pure evil."

"I guess that fits you to the letter," Amy noted.

"What, the backhanding?"

"I was thinking about the 'pure heart' thing, but if the backhanding works, okay. Literal translation there, Sonic?"

"I was condensing, mostly. I didn't think you would want to hear the details on eye gouging."

"You thought correctly," Amy shuddered. "Sounds a bit too brutal."

"Yeah, not really my style..." He closed the book he was reading and chomped on a meat bun before opening up another. "Anyways, I think the first step is finding the _jian_ that was mentioned. _Jùfēng Biānyuán_, or something."

"What's a 'jian'?" Amy asked.

"Oh, sorry. Double-edged Chinese sword. They're used a lot as plot pieces in martial arts adventures. Sounds like I'll be doing the same," he said with a smirk. "Anyways, I'm gonna get down to the nitty-gritty, if that's okay with you, Ames."

"Alright. Good luck, and be careful. Take a bit of time out to think when you need to, and do what you have to do, no matter what anyone says. Follow your heart, and everything will be okay."

"It's not like it used to be, Ames. I've changed a little, you know?"

"I know. But remember, I'm right here if you need me. If anything ever feels wrong to you, call me, and we'll find a way through it, together. I just have a feeling that you won't need my help all that much in the end. You're strong, Sonic. It's one of the reasons I love you so much."

"Thanks, Amy. I mean, for everything…"

"Hey, don't talk like that," she cut in. "You can come and thank me in person later. Just go out and kick butt for now," she said with a smile. "Your number one fan is expecting great things!"

"Right…I'm never one to disappoint, anyways. I'll talk to you later, then. Love you, Amy."

"Love you lots, Sonic." She kissed the receiver as she always did before hanging up. Sonic put back the phone he was using and stretched his legs. The information he had was enough for now…

"Time to skip the preamble and get to it." He chomped down on the rest of the meat buns before taking off for Dragon Road.

The edge of the village came quickly as he accelerated and ran up the stone wall separating it from the outside. Leaping into the air, he landed safely and shot himself faster into the distance, eventually reaching the Great Wall that would lead him towards his destination. He ran up the side and onto the top of the wall, and then used the natural lane there to keep himself going. Sonic vaulted himself over the battlements that would end up in his path, picking up speed as he went along.

"There we go."

The beginning of Dragon Road was a few seconds ahead, all of the elaborate structures shining in the afternoon sun as the blue blur rushed past. The golden rails that braced the massive red and gold dragons became playthings for Sonic as he jumped onto them and slid upwards, creating sparks with his shoes and ignoring gravity's attempts to slow him down. He kicked off of the side of one of the massive dragons and landed on top of the wall again, kicking up dust and debris as he sped off. Eyes focused on the main attraction, he leapt up off a battlement, rising high into the skies. He landed on the massive road, shaped like one of the mythical Chinese dragons, and sent sonic booms into the air as he picked up speed once more.

This section of the road wasn't cluttered by obstacles, allowing for pure, unhinged speed. Sonic took advantage, mentally shifting gears upwards and sending more sonic booms through the air around him, the sights around him slowly starting to blend into each other as he ran. A ninety-degree turn came up, and Sonic easily stomped as he reached the corner, his weight planted on his right foot for the split second that he needed. His eyes scanned the road ahead, and he pushed off violently, cracking the stone below as he disappeared. A wide arc around the nearby cliff came next, and he locked his feet before putting on the brakes and sliding around the turn, smoke and dust trailing off of his feet as the tough rubber soles heated up under duress. He held his arms out for balance as he slid down the road, again scanning the road ahead. Straight and clear.

Perfect.

He came out of the slide, forcing energy into his left leg as his weight came onto it. He pushed off, covering a distance of several feet before his right foot even touched the ground, and the process was repeated at high speed, causing the end of the road to come into sight quickly. Like a bullet, he shot out of the dragon's mouth and onto the dirt trail across the canyon that was supposed to be an obstacle. He dodged around the trees that appeared in his way, spinning around the trunks and vaulting over dead stumps.

Coming out of the small patch of forest, he slowed himself to a stop as he came to the end of his search. A vortex of wind spun around a set of white stone steps, and what looked like the handle of a sword could be seen at the top. The area was completely open, with no actual structure built around the object to obscure it.

Sonic touched the whirling wall of wind, and at once, it disappeared. The currents wrapped themselves around his right hand before disappearing. He flexed his hand out; wondering if that was part of his power before ascending the stone steps to where the sword was. As he suspected, the sword was lodged neatly into the stone block.

"Not like I haven't seen this before," he muttered to himself. He yanked the sword out with little effort and collected the scabbard set beside it. The blue tassels on the end of the handle blew freely in the breeze. Sonic squeezed on the grip of the sword, which was made of black wood and covered in rough ray-skin. The steel blade was as sharp as ever, glowing in the waning sunlight.

Sonic sheathed the sword in its scabbard, noting that it would probably rain soon. As he turned to head back, he noticed that someone was standing at the bottom of the steps. An immaculate white dress swept the ground, reaching from just underneath her bare arms. White silk gloves decorated her hands, her right one holding a katana with a pitch-black blade. Peeking out from underneath the dress were what looked to be heels made of crystal.

She softly touched the quills that hung over one side of her face, obscuring her left eye from sight. Her visible eye was a light blue and looked impassively towards Sonic as he stood. Save for the quills in front and the clothing, she was a mirror of the blue hedgehog, fur matching the colour of her eyes. A cool aura stretched out from her as she waited, raindrops falling softly around her.

Sonic gripped the scabbard as he walked down the steps, taking a moment to look at the visitor before walking past her and drawing his blade. The girl who was his mirror image stood patiently, not moving more than was required of her. He turned to face her, the rain now falling in bigger and bigger droplets. The patter of the falling rain went uninterrupted as the two looked at each other.

"Have you been waiting long?" he finally asked, breaking the silence. She shook her head.

"Don't hesitate, then. I'm not sure what the purpose is, but you have a right to carry it out as you see fit." He looked over at his right sleeve, thinking to himself about the _kanji_ there that related to this adventure he was having.

"I understand, Master." Her voice was as cool as the rain, yet carried a certain monotony to it that made her seem devoted, submissive, even. He didn't know who she was, but it seemed like this task carried a great deal of importance to her. He wouldn't try to deny her that if it were possible.

The rain continued to fall, and she took a breath in through rosy red lips, calming herself. The water only beaded up and slid off of her dress onto the ground below. Sonic closed his eyes in meditation, snapping them open as a current ruffled his fur. He strapped the scabbard on his back before drawing the legendary _jian_, holding it in a reverse grip as the girl swung down from behind. Steel clashed against steel in a split second, and in a flash, she had returned to her former position, as if she never left it.

Twirling the blade in his hands, he took two steps forward before disappearing, gliding past raindrops before he ended up in front of her. Their blades clashed once more, and he gave her fair warning.

"I don't know what this is all about, but I won't go easy on you."

She nodded. "If that is your will, Master." The girl shoved him off before charging forward once more, the rain falling harder around them.


	5. Hurricane Touchdown, Act 2

They danced around each other as the rain fell, the beads of water needing to work hard if they wanted to hit either of the duelling hedgehogs. The girl parried a high swing from Sonic before spinning and sweeping with a low attack. He skipped over the swing and forced her to block quickly, sending her sliding back with a powerful strike that rattled her guard.

She caught her breath before charging back at him, swiftly swinging the katana at him in a horizontal slash. He blocked solidly using one hand, and then quickly grabbed his sword by the tassels as he slipped underneath her sword arm. He swung the sharp edge at her, forcing the girl to drop to her knees and bend backwards to avoid the sword. From her position, she swung at him again, but he pulled the sword back on its string and neatly countered her. She popped herself back onto her feet, stabbing forward with no hesitation.

Sonic smirked and smacked the flat of the blade away, sending her arm wide and to the side. He stepped forward quickly and thrust at her, but she sprung upwards and performed a forward flip to avoid the strike completely. Landing behind him, she whirled and came at him with a vicious slash across, only to miss completely as Sonic pulled off a Flare, rotating quickly on the ground before landing back onto his feet in a flash. He struck at her while he was still off-balance, and she responded with a quick guard. She went back on the offensive, striking from every angle as fast as she could. Her slashes became blurs, moving so quickly that the sounds of metal upon metal struggled to catch up and take their rightful places.

He simply watched the slashes come in, blocking them all so expertly that even the slicing air coming off of her attacks was halted, causing him no harm whatsoever. He caught her time and time again, mixing up his counters with parries at blinding speed.

The girl's eyes widened as she continued her assault…since she was falling farther and farther back, she realized that she had somehow ended up on the _defensive_ without noticing. He was getting closer and closer to breaking her down, so she pushed off an incoming block and slid backwards, taking up a stance and placing both hands on her katana. Her eyes ignited as she swung forward with devastating force.

"Prepare yourself…_garyou tensei! _**Shippūga!**"

With a single swing, the ground below her was torn apart, and the white blade of wind raced towards Sonic. He waited until the absolute last moment before taking both hands to his sword, just like a baseball player would in the batter's box. He connected with the incoming attack, swinging and following straight through while cutting the attack apart with no effort. In the wake of his swing, a massive force of wind shot ahead and cut through the staircase behind his opponent. She dropped her katana and slid to her knees, petrified with fear.

"Hm." Sonic surveyed the damage, thinking that he _might_ have put too much power into that last one. One-half of the sword's resting place had completely disappeared, leaving behind a deep trench that stretched out a few miles. He noted that the cut was fairly clean, bearing in mind the fact that he hadn't actually _tried_ to cut anything.

"Probably overdid it." He walked over to the girl, still trembling. "You okay?"

"I…I wanted to…kill you…"

"I kind of figured. Why'd you call me 'Master' then?" he said, kneeling to her level.

"Because…I am bound to the God of Wind for the rest of my existence," she said, tears falling from her eyes. "I must live throughout all of time as his slave, that's why…I came here, knowing that you, the new incarnation would only be a mortal. I…am a failure. I don't deserve to live any longer. Please…at least end this life of mine."

He looked at her impassively before wiping her tears softly. "You were loyal to the God of Water, weren't you?"

"_Hai,_" she said softly.

"Can't you return to him? Or better yet, become the new Goddess of Water yourself?"

"I am tainted. I can no longer become a true master of the waves, no matter how hard I try. I have been in servitude to the wind for so long…"

"I see…that's a bit of a problem, huh? Well, maybe we can find a solution together."

Confused by his words, she stared back at him. "Your heart…is still bitter against this world. Why do you help me?"

His expression was neutral, although he wondered how she deduced that all of a sudden. "I don't need a reason. I help you because I can."

"…" She looked down at herself, seeing how there wasn't a scratch on her body. He could have easily killed her, yet he didn't. Just like before…just like the first time.

"You're…the same as him."

Sonic scratched his head. "So I keep hearing. So, do you still want my help?"

"I…I don't know…"

"Well, what's your heart tell you?" She blinked at that question. What _did_ her heart tell her? Focusing for a moment, she searched for an answer, something that would give her some sort of solace…and as she looked into his green eyes, through the driving rain, she found it.

_I want to follow him._

"I…will come with you, Master." He waved a hand at her.

"No need for that 'Master' stuff. My name's Sonic the Hedgehog. What's yours?"

"I have no name…S-Sonic." Calling someone by their actual name brought a tingling sensation to her lips. "I was born as a servant and s-"

"Can't have that," he interrupted. He tapped a foot while he thought for a moment. "No, that's too generic…too lame…while _that_ would be cool, it'd be totally out of place…"

"Ma-I mean, S-S-Sonic…what are you doing?" she asked timidly.

"Gotta get you a name. Sorry, it's a kind of thing I always need to do." He snapped his fingers. "Got one. How's 'Misty' sound?"

"I…it's nice…" She bit her lip, knowing that although it was a pretty name, she'd like something native to her home…but that was greedy and rude and-

"That's a good nickname, then! Alright, I guess we're done with that, Kiriko."

"Kiriko…?" Her face flushed red.

He looked back at her. "What, no good?"

"N-no...I mean yes...I meant…I just didn't think you would…"

"I figured since you were Japanese, you'd like it over anything else. I think it fits you kind of well, no? Suspended between sky and water, or something like that. Whatever, it just works for you, that's why I picked it. Anyways, let's go."

"Yes…" Kiriko tried to stand, but her legs still felt like rubber. "I…Sonic…"

"No need to panic. I can carry you back in a jiffy."

"If that's so, then…" She slowly grabbed her katana and focused, turning it into a ring of light that wrapped around her left wrist. As the light faded, it took the form of a black bracelet.

"Pretty cool. How long did it take you to learn that move?" Sonic asked as he picked her up, making her face flush again.

"I don't know exactly when…"

"Maybe you can tell me all about it when we get back to the village. Hold tight, okay?"

"Yes…Sonic." She closed her eyes, falling asleep quickly as she took in his warmth. The blue hedgehog only smiled and sheathed his own sword before taking off towards the Dragon Road once more.

It took a bit longer at reduced speed, but Sonic arrived back in Chun-nan just in time for dinner, though he wasn't quite that hungry yet. Kiriko was still asleep in his arms, and he realized that he now needed to find a place for her to stay. Expense wasn't an issue for him, but simply finding a place in a village with people who didn't like you too much…

"Sonic?"

He turned to find Shuifon walking towards him. "Hey. How's everything going?"

"I can't complain…is this your girlfriend, Sonic?"

"Nah. Just a nameless immortal servant of the God of Wind, who longed to duel him in mortal combat and kill him for her freedom," he explained casually.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Have you found a place for her to stay?"

"Not yet. I'm gonna ask around."

"Okay, but if you run out of luck, I've got a room she can use."

"Awesome, thanks a million, Teach. I'll see ya around."

"You bet, Sonic." The hedgehogs left, and Shuifon took a moment to let the conversation sink in before shrugging. His conclusion: stranger things had happened.

Sonic made it a few blocks before Hualin spotted him. "Sonic, that you?"

"Yeah. How's it going?"

"Not bad…uh, who's this? She kind of looks like a clone of you." Sonic blinked, realizing that he had never asked what the deal with that was. Maybe later, he thought.

"Yeah. Can't say that she has bad taste, can we?" he replied with a wink.

"But _of course_," Hualin said, rolling her eyes. "Where are you going with her?"

"Was gonna ask you for suggestions, actually."

"Well, Mom definitely won't let me keep her…she's not homicidal or anything, is she?"

"About an hour ago she was, but that's been taken care of."

"Okay…but Mom still won't let me keep her. I guess the inn a few blocks down would work, but they'll gouge you like no tomorrow, Sonic."

"Money's no object," he said neatly. "Whatever I've gotta pay, I'll pay it for her sake."

Hualin seemed taken aback for a moment, then smiled and nodded her head. "If that's the case, then there's no better place to stay. The place is top-notch."

"Cool. I'll check her in right away, then. Oh, question. You got a spare phone around I can get off of you?"

"Depends. What are you looking for?"

"Something that I can make calls on and take calls on, pretty much."

"Yeah, I've got something like that," Hualin said with a smile.

"Alright. I'll talk to you later about it, then." He sped off for the inn.

* * *

><p>"Mmm…I think that would work."<p>

Amy Rose was lying on a sofa, looking over the piece of music that she had written down. She had more paper in a neat stack on the table close to her, already filled up with musical notation.

She erased the note that she had written in and replaced it with another. Satisfied, she made her way over to the piano nearby and started to play her composition.

"Yeah, definitely works." She planted a kiss on the paper before laying it on the top of her created stack. She sat down again and opened the photo album of China that Sonic and Chip had created together on their journey. Surprisingly enough, the little guy was quite the photographer, taking all sorts of beautiful shots while running along with Sonic. Then again, she had the feeling that Sonic had taken his fair share of photos in the album as well.

"He looks like he was having fun…" She marvelled at an aerial shot of the Dragon Road, one that must have been taken while Sonic was flying through the air at high speed. The old days were so much fun, she mused. The photos of Sonic and Tails' trip to Eggman's Incredible Interstellar Amusement Park (so it was called) still were unsorted, but she resisted looking though them until she got through his world tour during the Dark Gaia saga.

She closed the book before lying back, staring up at the ceiling in thought. Everything had changed, so suddenly…Sonic disappeared into prison, and everyone was left to their own devices. She had spent all of her time in school, trying to forget about everything else.

"Just like Sonic…I think I have some running to do, some catching up…my friends. I think I should pay them a visit or two." She knew that Tails would welcome her over at any time, so that would be a good place to go at the moment.

"Although, if I want to come back here, I'll have to pack some extra clothes…" She decided to peek into the bedrooms, noting that the first two were pretty neutral and similar for the most part. She opened the last door, and saw that the whole room was done in a rosy pink design, with most of the furniture being things that she had wanted to buy for her own place in time.

"Whoa…now _this _is a bedroom," she said with a smile. Spacious closet, comfy bed, soft swivel chair and a decked-out desk (Tails _must_ have built that computer from scratch), huge dresser-drawer set, and it went on and on…the huge poster on the wall of Sonic running at full speed down Interstate 95 wasn't a bad touch, either.

Amy opened one of the drawers…only to find clothes already in them. Huh?

"Wait a…" They fit her perfectly. That was…_good_. Her mind had reached many _other_ conclusions about the clothing in the room, but they were dispersed as she continued to look over them. However, there was one more thing…

She opened one drawer to find her 'unmentionables', and after checking the tags, her face flushed like it hadn't in a long time.

"Geez, Sonic…!"

Yup. Those all fit perfectly, too.

She packed everything back to where it was, but still couldn't control her blushing. What was she going to do with that guy, honestly? She grabbed her keys and locked the door behind her, shaking her head with a smile as she walked down the hall.

If there was such a thing as being _too_ good to someone, her love had managed to do it.

* * *

><p>an: I'm sure that **Shippūga** translates roughly to 'Hurricane Fang' (I'm taking that translation from _Megaman X4_, anyways) from Japanese. 

**Garyou tensei** I believe translates to 'the finishing touch' from Japanese as well. A **jian** is a Chinese double-edged sword, and one of the most prominent weapons in Chinese martial arts flicks and stories.

The name **Kiriko**...well, I'll let you guys figure that one for yourselves, but if you feel like asking, I'll spill. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, let me know what you think any way that you can. Thanks for reading, all.


	6. Hurricane Touchdown, Act 3

a/n: Let's get down, as the kids say. 'Preciate the love from everyone, very grateful.

* * *

><p>Sonic stood on the roof of the inn, twirling the new phone in his hands. The sun had not yet risen, so it wouldn't be the best idea to call Amy at the moment.<p>

He looked upwards, noting the stars that were scattered across the sky, some of them glowing in brilliant colours and painting it like a dark canvas. He moved the phone to his index finger and spun it there, watching the rotations as they went slowly by in his eyes. Even as it went round and round, he could pick out each number on the keypad, the wear on the directional buttons and the small scratches on the screen.

He moved his head to the clicking of heels on the pavement, noting the light steps coming towards him. His eyes went back to the stars as the figure sat on her knees beside him, staring into the distance silently.

"I wanted to ask…is there a reason why you look so much like me?"

"Your presence was the strongest one in the area. Before that, I had lost my original form after ages of wandering. I had…forgotten who I was."

"You don't mind looking like someone else?"

"I do not," she replied. "Do you mind that I look like you?"

"Nah. I think it's kind of cool."

She turned her head towards him. "Is that why you saved me?"

He snorted, again focusing on the spinning phone. "Hardly. I've fought a bunch of guys who looked enough like me, and I didn't hesitate to bash their faces in. You had a look in your eyes that I understood. And like I said before, I saved you simply because I could. That's it."

"What is your will for me?" she asked impassively. He sighed.

"I don't have any ulterior motives, if that's what you're asking. And I already have a girlfriend," he added, cutting her off.

"There's someone that you love?"

"Hard as it is to believe, yeah. Always wondered how she could put up with someone like me…"

"I don't understand," she said, cocking her head to one side.

"Listen, I _might_ be a nice guy, but I was a bit anti-social and not very relationship-compatible at times. Still am, in fact."

"Are you sure? I…" Her face flushed. "I think you're…very benevolent."

"Benevolent, huh…maybe."

"The world has wounded you deeply, Sonic. I can deduce that from your words."

"So it has." He put the phone in his pocket. "That's the past, though. All I want to do is move forward. You should do that, too. What happened then doesn't have to define you now. Like I said, I'll help you out 'till the end."

"Thank you…I am grateful for your kindness."

He continued looking out into the distance. "Don't take this the wrong way, but…none of that matters much to me any more. I mean, whether people are 'grateful' or not. However, I _do_ appreciate that you feel that way. It makes things easier. So…you're welcome."

Sonic's ears twitched as he felt a disturbance in the wind…he had been noting those kinds of things a lot lately, but they didn't bother him very much. Something spinning…blades. Oh, wait.

"Helicopter…"

"Sonic?"

"It's a helicopter, Kiriko." She blushed at the mention of her name, but he wasn't paying her enough attention to notice.

"I know a bit about them, from wandering in this world. I have also seen…many strange things. An island floating in the sky, and the moon being torn apart by light, and a giant rock in the shape of a man's face…with a rather large moustache."

"Angel Island, Eclipse Cannon, Death Egg," Sonic listed off.

"They are…all familiar to you, Sonic?" she asked curiously.

"More or less." Concentrating, he could feel that there were two sets of the spinning blades…making the helicopter a military one, most likely. "C'mon, let's go and see what's happening at the shrine. We may have to get started earlier than we thought. I'll talk to you about my journeys on the way over. Walking or running?"

"We can run, if you wish, Sonic."

"Alright, then. Speaking of that, did you copy my speed, too?"

"Only to an extent…"

He smirked playfully. "Really…let's see what that extent is, then."

* * *

><p>They reached the shrine in about twenty minutes, Kiriko looking a bit winded while Sonic looked as if he hadn't done anything at all. The golden statue in front of them glowed brightly as the moonlight touched it, each pair of eyes on the dragons a different colour and all lit up with an unnatural glow. Sonic could hear the blades of the helicopter in the distance, but ignored it for the time being.<p>

"This is…the Five Dragons' Shrine?"

"Yeah. From what I read, I think the dragons used to be good spirits before something happened to them. They were corrupted by some kind of force…I guess they were buried around this area since it was holy ground, so the priests hoped that they'd be purified eventually. Anyways, Gramps told me that this is the fake entrance…so the real one is right about…"

He drew his sword and pointed it downwards, below the statue. "Here." He raised his sword arm and brought it down in a flash of speed, then sheathed his blade with a 'click'. At that, the statue split neatly into two pieces, which fell to either side as they revealed the new entrance. A set of stairs led downward underneath the earth, and below the white marble structures that composed the original shrine on the surface.

Sonic made his way down before extending a hand to his companion. "Coming, Kiriko?"

She blushed a bit before nodding, taking his hand as he led her down. A warmth spread through her as their hands touched, and she wondered what it was, how it had come to be. All she knew was that she felt good and warm around him, all of the time.

Following him had been the right decision after all.

"Darn. Probably should have packed a light…"

"This area has no traps…"

He looked back at her. "How'd you know that?"

"I…" She started to answer, but her memory was in patches when it came to that. "I…don't quite know…"

"Gap in your memory?"

"There are a few, but I thought them minor until this point."

"Don't worry too much about it. If it's at all helpful, I'll take it." They walked side by side in the dark, using the walls as guidance. The sound of hurried breathing reached the male hedgehog's ears, and he stopped for a moment.

"Kiriko…? You okay?"

"I'm fine," she lied. However, with nothing else to focus on, the waver in her voice became evident. He took hold of her trembling hand gently.

"I'm here if you need me. Got it?"

"Yes…"

"Wanna talk about it?"

"…I…I don't like the dark. I'm so alone in the darkness, and all I can remember is being in pain from it. So many things would come out from it, and hurt me…and sometimes, I would be left alone, with only my own heartbeat driving me insane."

"I understand-"

"But I don't want to run away! I…want to stay here, with you."

"…Hold on to me. I'll take you through, Kiriko."

She nodded furiously, even though he couldn't see her do so. They moved on down the dark hall, squeezing each other's hands tightly.

Suddenly, a torch lit up in front of them, revealing a wall with several inscriptions on it. Sonic looked at them and scratched his head.

"Out of my league, here…"

"I can read them," Kiriko answered. Now that the darkness wasn't in her way, she wanted to prove herself useful. "These are writings from long, long ago…it says that the trials will begin here, but that nothing will be given to the one who attempts them. Only the chosen one will conquer the trials and slay the dragons once and for all."

"So…they were never dead in the first place?"

"These tombs were made to contain the dragons as they slumbered, until the chosen one was to destroy them…" She felt her heart skip a beat.

That wasn't written on the wall.

"Ah, so that means that we've got some clean-up to do."

"It seems so…there are six trials to pass. The Trial of Self is first, then the Trials of the five Phases…Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. The Trial of Self is to determine the worth of the one traversing the tombs…they are all interconnected in one direction as you enter. To…feed into each other."

"You mean just like the Cycle of Generation?"

"Yes." She turned to him. "Sonic…I have a strange feeling…"

"What's it about, Kiriko?"

She didn't know for sure what these fragments of memories amounted to, but she felt that she could tell him…she could trust him.

"I-" She frowned as something seemed to be pulling on her dress. But as she turned, her eyes went wide in horror. Her dress, and the rest of her…was being pulled into the wall…

"Sonic!"

"Hey! What's going on?"

"I-I don't know, the wall, it's pulling me in!"

"Take my hand!"

She obediently did so, and he revved up his legs while moving in the other direction. She wasn't budging!

"Shoot! Kiriko, hold on!"

The memories were coming back to her, somehow…she knew everything. About this tomb, about how it was built, and its true purpose.

_Her _true purpose.

"Sonic…let go…"

"No way! I'm not quitting!"

"You must…you have to let go and kill me…"

"Are you **nuts?** I'm not killing you, Kiriko!" he yelled.

"I don't want to be lost to the darkness again…I don't want to be part of this! I'll end up hurting you for real!"

"What're you going on about?"

"I'm a part of this shrine, and everything that's going on! If you don't kill me now, I'll end up taking your life! I don't want that!"

"Part of this? Like how?" he yelled while trying to pull her back desperately.

"I was…thrown away by my old master, to sabotage the God of Wind…that's the truth. I only thought I wanted freedom, but that was never the case. My whole life…was devoted to killing someone. It's the only thing I'm good for…"

"Don't be stupid," Sonic said bluntly. "There's more to you than that. You're not just a tool, you're someone with their own thoughts and feelings. Kiriko, you mean something to me!"

She smiled sadly, tears falling from her eyes. "I…you mean something to me, too. You mean _everything_ to me, Sonic…I was trying to understand…"

He growled as more of her form disappeared into the stone wall.

"…I didn't know what I felt before, but I…get it now. Thank you for…for making me feel alive, like I actually belonged in this world. I'll miss you…"

"Don't talk like that, Kiriko…!" he pleaded.

"I…want you to know…"

Her eyes looked affectionately upon him, and she smiled one last time. "…I love you, my master…"

"Kiriko!"

She squeezed his hand tightly, not wanting to let go…he met solid stone as she slipped through, lost for good.

"Kiriko…!" He called out for her, hoping that she wasn't really gone…but she was. He punched the wall in frustration and anger, his whole body shaking.

"I'll get you back…I'll get you back, and I'll make sure that you get to know what happiness is, Kiriko. I swear it…as long as I live, I _swear_ it!"

His green eyes were as cold as ice, and he stared down the wall in front of him. At once, it cracked and fell apart, revealing the pathway ahead. Sonic walked further in, eventually entering a room of pure white. There was emptiness everywhere he looked, but he was standing on solid ground, somehow.

"Come," a voice said arrogantly. "This is the first of your trials. The Trial of Se-"

The red hedgehog was thrown across the endless space, only stopping as he slid on his back. He was a mirror image of Sonic save for the fur, and the jumpsuit that the real one was wearing. The red one wiped his mouth of blood and barely dodged the sword bearing down on his head.

"You fool…coming out aggressively, are we?" The red hedgehog suddenly surged with power, and his quills stood up while his fur changed to gold.

"Behold…you should quit now while you're ahead," Super Sonic said with a smirk.

Sonic's eyes hardened further, but he said nothing. The golden blur came to him with an attack, but he retaliated with a perfect punch to the side of his head, sending him tumbling across the area once more. His crimson eyes widened in horror.

"You…how? **How?**" he screamed.

His opponent only took a stance, his sword at the ready.

"Warm-up's **over.**"


	7. Wrath of the Dragon, Act 1

Sonic threw his sword at his golden counterpart, drawing a smirk as it was grabbed out of midair easily.

"Boring! You'll have to do-"

The blue hedgehog had already left his position, stopping in front of Super Sonic to deliver a hard punch to the stomach that winded him and made him double over in pain.

"Arrogant. Slow. **Weak.** You are not me, and I am not you."

"Haha…you're something else, aren't you…going into…prison…" He coughed loudly. "Really made you a…beast…"

Sonic declined to respond as he pulled his fist back, only to slam the other into the side of Super Sonic's head. The golden one flew violently in air, spinning as he crashed into what was the ground they stood on, the endless white space obscuring its beginnings and endings.

"I don't fear you, Sonic," he yelled as he got up.

"I don't _care_. Give me what is mine," he growled.

"Hah! See that, you're treating her like an object, just like her old master was doing! You hypocrite!"

"Every person I care about belongs to me. She is no exception."

"She never belonged to you! She was always a servant of the darkness!"

"I'll buy her freedom. There's no cost too high for me."

"You have no such power!" Super Sonic screamed back. He charged forward in a rage, managing to catch Sonic off-guard with a punch. He followed up with another, and another, and another, keeping it going until his limbs were flashes of light.

"You are only one being! A weak, pathetic organic! You are not as I am! To free someone from that kind of darkness, that kind of curse on their existence, you would need to be a god! You are **powerless**! **You are no god!**" He kept pounding away for what seemed like an eternity, never seeming to run out of energy or strength.

Finally, he delivered a punch to Sonic's face that echoed across the emptiness around them. His fist hung in the air, the silence unnerving as the blue hedgehog turned his head, spitting blood into the nothingness below his feet.

"I am…not…a god…"

Super Sonic lowered his hands, confused. But as his copy raised his head, he then understood completely.

"No…not a god…I…" His knuckles cracked as he made a fist, his hand pulsing with energy. The golden hedgehog could feel fear, real and genuine fear creeping into him.

"W-What…what…_what the hell are you_?"

"I am…"

He pulled his arm back.

"**Sonic the Hedgehog.**"

His fist flew quickly enough so that Super Sonic wouldn't feel anything for a few moments. He felt his bones shatter and his body rippling like water, but no pain. It was only when gravity finally arrived that he felt himself falling out of the transformation. The pain came, but it was so great that he felt his mind short out completely, his mouth open in pure suffering but no sound escaping as he rocketed through the abyss.

Sonic stood in place, right hand still in front of him and his body smouldering after Super Sonic's assault. He started the long walk to where his copy lay, somehow still breathing after having his body flattened.

Sonic stopped and dropped to one knee, holding his right hand in front of him.

"You're probably wondering how I beat you so easily. Well, it's simple. Two hearts are better than one."

His red clone coughed weakly. "The hell…are you going on…about…" There was a sweet smell in the air just then. It smelled of…roses and cherry blossoms.

Red rose petals and pink cherry blossoms danced in the air around the blue hedgehog, carried gently by the wind. "This was a trial made to test the self. To test the strength of **my** will. But you need to get this through your head." He looked at the red hedgehog. "I no longer have a single 'self' or a single will if you could call it. It took three words to make that happen."

"I." One finger went up. "Love." Two fingers. "You." Three fingers.

"H…huh…?"

"A girl named Amy Rose confessed her love to me. She reached into her heart and did that, for someone like me...and I…I returned her love, also sending her my own. From that day forward, my will no longer belonged to me alone, but to her as well. I can't do anything simply for myself anymore…what I do for myself, I do for her as well."

He plucked one of the rose petals from the air in front of him, cradling it gently. "She loves me without any hesitation. That's why, no matter where I go, she's always with me. I…am never, ever alone. I know that many have come and died in this place, unable to surpass 'themselves'. I can't even say for sure that I would beat you, relying on my 'self' alone."

"What're you saying…that…you're two people?"

"No. I am who I am, and she is who she is. I simply don't fight for myself anymore. I don't remember how to."

"Tch…so you're saying that the moment I challenged you, I lost…hahahaha! Bravo! Truly, you are no mere mortal…but a god? I don't see it in you," the red hedgehog said.

"God or not…I'm here for a reason. I've come to take back what is mine." Sonic rose and walked past his injured copy. The blossoms swirled and faded into his body as he left for the open door that had appeared.

"To surpass the self…hah…I wish you well, O God of Wind…"

The red hedgehog disappeared into nothingness soon after.

* * *

><p>Sonic walked the long halls, his mind nearly empty of thoughts. There wasn't much to think about…he needed to defeat the dragons and he needed to save Kiriko from these tombs. Reaching the end of the hall, he ended up in a sprawling forest of bamboo. The place was warm, much warmer than it had been for the past few days outside.<p>

The rumblings on the forest floor told him that the dragon was near. It wasn't coming for him, not quite yet.

He started jogging further inside, avoiding the bamboo as it entered his path. He started noticing that the cover was getting thicker and thicker, and the roots were more and more plentiful. Ears twitching, he burst into a sprint and could see that the growth was following him. He burst forward to avoid the bamboo cage ahead and reached a clearing. The dragon was in the sky above, stretching across the area with its long body. The eyes had green, rectangle-shaped pupils that looked down upon Sonic as he moved. Timber shot out from all directions, and in a flash, Sonic unsheathed his sword to cut through it all.

"The Green Dragon of Wood," he mused, moving to cut down the sharp bamboo spears that shot towards him. He leapt over the next attack and started to run through the seemingly endless forest, the dragon giving chase and opening its mouth. Sonic jumped as a giant ball of wind slammed into the ground he was standing on, turning it into dust.

"…" He came to a stop as the dragon swooped lower, jumping again to try to reach its back. However, the creature was swift and swerved out of the way, leaving Sonic to land on the forest floor again. Roots from below tried to snare him again, and the forest was growing thicker and thicker with bamboo and massive trees. The Green Dragon stalled in the air before diving down towards where Sonic stood, somehow igniting itself in flame. The hedgehog tore himself free and poured on the speed, making it out in time as the forest burned from the dragon's passing. The fire spread quickly in a short time due to the oxygen in the air, but soon disappeared as an afterthought as more trees rose from the ground.

The dragon then charged through the trees like a raging bull, and Sonic rolled quickly to one side in order to avoid it. The plant life that was flattened was immediately replaced, and Sonic raced past it to catch up to the dragon as it moved. He charged hard and slashed a part of the dragon's side, only to see the wound repaired as the dragon evaded him.

But he felt that he had figured something out from that…something important. He held his sword out as he stopped, looking at it in meditation.

"It healed from its own flame faster…and there's a reason behind that," he said to his reflection in the blade. He then returned his attention to the circling dragon. "Just like with Eggman…find a weakness, and then exploit it. Never failed me yet…"

Sonic twirled the sword in his hands, watching the dragon's rectangular eyes as they narrowed at him. He couldn't resist a smirk at that.

"Well, I've gotten someone upset again. Good…that means I'm making progress."


	8. Wrath of the Dragon, Act 2

a/n: A little short, looking back at it, but it completes a thought for me, so I think it works out. Might try another rapid-fire session...we'll see. Hope you all enjoy, and thanks for the support.

* * *

><p><em>Prepare yourself, and you will be a stranger to surprise.<em>

_Strengthen yourself, and you will become estranged from weakness._

_Calm yourself, and you will know little of fear._

_Remember these things, young one. They will take you down the path you are destined to follow._

Sonic accelerated once more as the Green Dragon came for his head, sliding to a stop in front of it before lashing out with his sword. The dragon swerved hard but was cut by the blade, the side of its head splintering from the cut and littering the forest floor with pieces of green wood.

Roaring again in rage, the dragon breathed out a fireball, burning the trees to a crisp as it passed. Sonic charged forward and split the air with a sonic boom, running right through the flames and slashing at the dragon as it came near. One of its eyes was then cut in two, turning to solid wood as it became useless, the splinters scattering onto the ground below.

"Wood feeds Fire…"

Sonic dodged another flaming charge from the dragon as the forest started to grow rapidly.

"…and parts Earth…"

With a powerful swing of his sword, Sonic cut apart the roots that tried to grab him and trip him up.

"…but is chopped up by Metal."

He threw the sword like a javelin, landing it deep into the side of the dragon's body as it wound about trying to attack him. With another ear-splitting roar, the dragon launched a long stream of flame towards the hedgehog, chasing him with it as he zoomed through the forest with wild abandon. He made a wide arc, waiting for the flame to get closer before abruptly shooting straight towards the dragon at high speed. He jumped and spun like a buzz saw, ramming himself into the large creature and chipping off pieces of wood as he drilled through.

The dragon twisted and turned in an attempt to get the hedgehog off, but Sonic had other plans. Using his momentum, he spun up the long body of the Green Dragon, uncurling himself long enough to tear his sword out of the beast's hide on his way up before going into another vicious spin, ripping into his opponent like a ruthless lumberjack.

He was finally bucked off, landing on the ground gracefully before turning back to the dragon. It was fuming, with smoke coming out of its nostrils as it glared at Sonic with its good eye.

Sonic stepped back, watching as the wounds from earlier started to heal slowly, and the dragon started to grow in size, starting to fill the sky above him. The animal's long body was becoming more and more like the trunk of a tree, curled around in a menacing display. Branches and leaves were growing like crazy out of the dragon's body as it continued to grow in size.

"Just making yourself a bigger target," Sonic said. A stream of flame, much bigger than before, shot towards him, and he dodged quickly by shooting under it and heading for a nearby tree. He ran up the tall trunk and jumped into the air, towards the dragon.

With a mighty swing, he sent a wave of air pressure towards the dragon's head, hitting its neck and cutting nearly halfway into it.

"Your anger's getting the best of you. Not that I care," he said coldly. A loud roar came back in response, and he sighed. "Is that all you do? That's pretty pathetic, if you ask me. I guess I should put you to sleep, whiny brat."

Looking down at his left hand as he landed, he noticed that it had been reacting to the dragon's presence the entire time. There was something to that, wasn't there?

_Left Hand of Redemption…_

Clenching his fist tightly, he dodged a swing of the dragon's massive wooden tail, taking the opportunity to run along it and up its body.

"I'll just test this…before I end it."

* * *

><p>Surrounding her was nothing but darkness. She shivered in it, wanting to cry out for someone, anyone to come and rescue her. If <em>he<em> could hear her, he would come running as soon as he could…how she knew that, she didn't know, but she just _did_. It had only been a day or two, but she felt as if she had known him for her whole existence.

He had told her so much about himself, about the things he had done, his friends and enemies, and the girl he loved…although she loved him as well, she was happy with the fact that their relationship was one-sided. All she wanted to do was be by his side, for however long she could be. Thinking of him made her happy.

The darkness seeped into her as she sat on her knees, hands bound behind her back, and head weighed down with a heavy metal collar around her neck.

The voices came back, trying to taunt her as they always did.

"Your _master_ couldn't save you. Why do you still think of him?"

"Because I love him." A surging pain tore through her, and another voice spoke when she caught her breath.

"You are a servant of the darkness. Your _master_ will never come for you."

"I heard his voice. He said he would show me happiness…" She screamed out as the pain came back, making her gasp for air again.

"It seems as if the tool has a will of its own," a feminine voice echoed. Piercing blue eyes stared into Kiriko's, and somehow, a row of pearly white teeth grinned maliciously at her through the darkness. The girl shook with fear, feeling the darkness invade her once more, but more intensely than ever before.

"If that is the case…we shall simply shatter it to pieces. Come…"

A bright blue flame materialized in the dark, and then slammed into Kiriko's chest harshly. For a few moments, she couldn't feel anything at all…and then the pain came.

She tried to choke her screams, the torture making her cry harder than she had ever done before.

"Please…stop it…stop it…"

"Tools that do not work properly…simply need to be **rebuilt**. You will become a vessel for my dreams, and you _will _destroy the God of Wind."

"It hurts! I-I-I can't…help me, help me…"

"As I said…I will shatter you first."

She screamed out, begging, pleading for the unbearable pain to stop within her, but was left alone in the darkness, feeling herself being torn apart with nothing to save her.

"Someone! Please…! _Please_!"

She screamed out, and nobody could hear her.


	9. Wrath of the Dragon, Act 3

a/n: Apologies in advance, since this chapter gets a little...yeah. I think I'm dancing just within the K+ rating with this one. Anything that you can conclude is _probably_ what it sounds like. Questions are always welcome if answers are needed, feedback's great as well. Thanks for the support as always.

* * *

><p>Sonic's feet pounded on the Green Dragon's body as he streaked upwards, cutting down the tree limbs that sprung up and tried to block his path. Leaping into the air, he came down with his left hand balled up into a fist, and slammed it into the dragon's wooden head.<p>

The bark cracked loudly, and the loudest roar yet came from the beast as it flailed about in absolute agony, slamming itself into the ground and thrashing repeatedly. Sonic watched with curiosity, his left hand smoking much like the dragon was as it screamed out in pain.

"Redemption…I see. The light to destroy the darkness within. Might have to work on it a bit more before that time comes."

The dragon changed again, its eyes becoming pitch black spheres and its wooden body turning a pasty white colour. It opened its mouth and gathered energy into it, intending to end the fight as quickly as possible. Flames gathered around the black sphere forming between the beast's teeth, turning black themselves as soon as they touched it. The attack grew larger and larger with each second.

"I guess this is the part where I'm supposed to wait for you to attack, and then dramatically break through with a powerful attack of my own," Sonic said.

The flaming sphere shot towards him at that moment, but the hedgehog simply stood his ground.

"I've learned a lot these past few years, gotten a bit stronger. There are a lot of things that I couldn't do before, I guess." He sheathed his sword, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Shows how much I've changed since the last time. I don't expect the next fight to be like this one."

He looked up towards the ball of death coming for his face.

"Now if you don't mind…"

In a split second, time stood still as Sonic danced around the flaming sphere, the world around him dressed in inverted colours.

"I've got actual business to take care of."

In a flash of light, Sonic went from being right in front of the dragon to right behind it, just as the world around him returned to its normal state.

"Four to go," he muttered, walking towards the new exit that had appeared. The forest started to degenerate into a desert wasteland as the dragon fell to the earth, separated into wooden pieces. Thick black smoke rose up from a green orb that had appeared where the dragon once was.

Curious, Sonic turned back and grabbed the orb, feeling the power run through his body. He held it with his left hand, noticing how it reacted favourably with the energies. The cuts and wounds from earlier healed up, and even his jumpsuit was returned to normal.

"That seems interesting…"

Sonic transferred the orb to his right hand.

"…But I've got enough of my own power to work with."

And with that, he crushed it to pieces. He left the shattered remains of the orb to fall into the desert sands and again made his way to the exit. Next would be Fire, he knew. While his blade had been useful for this part of the trials, he figured he'd have to go back to the basics with this next battle. He didn't mind it either way, as long as he won in the end.

"Whatever they're planning with Kiriko, I'll have to stop. Hopefully, I won't have to hurt her…much."

Sonic knew that she'd be turned against him at some point, maybe as the final stage boss. It didn't stop his uneasiness at her situation…there was a chance that something more sinister was underway.

"I hope you can hold on until I get there, Kiriko."

Walking the long hall, his thoughts turned to Amy Rose. When this was all said and done, he'd have to give her a call…reception was terrible down here.

* * *

><p>A certain pink hedgehog was about five thousand feet in the sky at that moment, standing on the wings of a certain red bi-plane.<p>

"I really can get why Sonic loved this so much…"

The skies were clear and fresh, the blue ocean rushing below them as they flew. Miles Prower eased the Tornado lower towards the waters, leaving a wake as the plane flew by at high speed.

"You've been totally obsessed with this the past few years, Amy."

"I know…it's just something I like to do nowadays, that's all."

"Does it remind you of him?" the fox asked.

"Yeah…it does…"

He shook his head. "Man, nothing's changed with you at all."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked defensively.

"You've got Sonic on the brain. It was true then, and it's definitely true now."

"That's not true! I think of other things besides Sonic…like…fashion! There!" she said triumphantly.

"Says the girl who returned a thousand dollars worth of clothing just because Sonic suggested a lighter shade of _indigo_ to her. Offhand. While eating a chilli dog."

"Uh…uh…okay, fine! Music, then!"

"Your first ten compositions were dedicated to him."

"Shoot…! Dancing!"

"Break dancing classes."

Amy hung her head, defeated. Food _used _to be a valid retort, but she had become addicted to the taste of chilli dogs herself…

"Chill out, it's not a _bad_ thing."

"I'm totally convinced. Thanks, Tails," she said sarcastically.

"I mean it. You love him, don't you?"

"More than anything. I'd do whatever I had to for him, good or bad."

"Then it's good that you can appreciate his passions so much. You're still different, in your own ways, and it's…actually _great_ that you haven't changed much, Amy."

"How so, Tails?" she asked.

"You're still the girl next door, chasing him as he runs off and always waiting patiently for him to come back. You always want to impress him and can't stop gushing about how awesome he is, even now. That passion is still there…so many people would give anything to have something like that, especially after five years apart from each other. It's the kind of love that lasts forever…"

Amy looked up into the sky, realizing how right Tails was. Even now, she thought of him as she looked into the clear blue beyond…she felt warm inside, happy and satisfied. Her heart still fluttered at the sound of his voice…

"Yeah…"

He smiled and gently took the plane higher into the air, leaving his elder sister with her thoughts for the time being.

_I'm wondering what Sonic's doing myself…but he's probably relaxing or something. He always liked vacationing._

* * *

><p>"Not exactly a five-star resort…"<p>

The next area Sonic ended up in was a hot, rocky place with lava flows appearing randomly throughout the area. Several jagged hills dotted the landscape, and twisted spires of rock shot up periodically as the massive red dragon passed through the crimson skies.

Its triangular red eyes focused on Sonic, and its hide was made of what seemed to be living flame, moving freely along the dragon as it curled and uncurled its form. It breathed out a thick cloud of burning ash towards the hedgehog, who dodged as quickly as he could while avoiding the spires of earth that rose up in his path. He drew his sword and slashed through them with ease, noting how it heated up after slashing each section of rock.

_Smarter than you look…_

He sheathed the sword and evaded the spires using pure speed, leaping over the crevices that followed them. Missing a jump would land him in a bath of hot lava. The dragon spat fireballs at him in rapid succession, not as disagreeable with the fire element as its wooden counterpart was. Sonic expertly changed directions quickly, faking steps left and right as he ran, hurdling over low obstacles, and even forcefully smashing through others with a burst of speed.

"Legs feel a little bit weighted," he grumbled. He was already sweating heavily, noticing the temperature rising quickly with every passing second. "This one's not playing around."

There wasn't a ready plan of attack at the moment. Fire…Wood fed Fire, and Fire created Earth, Fire melted Metal, and Water extinguished Fire...

"No help there," he realized. There wasn't any water in the area, besides his own body…and he doubted that he had anything that could make _that_ useful. Espio could probably figure something out with his ninjutsu, but he wasn't quite on that level yet.

"Out of options…or so it would seem…"

Sonic ducked another cloud of ash and charged towards the flaming Red Dragon. Since he couldn't rely on the elements or his new powers in this case, he'd just improvise with the 'old' things.

He dodged a spire quickly, then ran up the side of it as it continued to rise into the sky. Sonic held his breath and covered his nose as he broke through a cloud of hot ash. He ignored most of the painful burning on his face and surged ahead with a Sonic Boost, leaping off of the spire as it tried to skewer him. The Red Dragon faced him and let loose a massive fireball towards Sonic as he flew through the air.

No time to dodge.

Naturally…he was never planning to do so.

* * *

><p>Kiriko had felt the pain numb a while ago. She couldn't feel anything anymore, and she knew that it was still there, drilling into her madly. But it didn't hurt so much…<p>

Her mind still clung to thoughts of him, her affections keeping her from slipping off of the edge.

"How interesting…you still dare to defy me," the blue-eyed temptress whispered.

"…"

"But you no longer have the strength to do anything, much less feel pain. Isn't that why you've stopped screaming? Because it doesn't _hurt as much_? Oh…I understand."

"…"

"Don't you worry…I'll fix that right up, okay?" The pearly white smile shone down on her, even as she could barely keep herself conscious. "You can hear it, right? His voice…"

She raised her head somehow, eyes brightening as she saw the figure in front of her.

"Sonic…"

He smiled and kneeled down to her level. Instantly, he released her bonds and held her trembling body close to his.

"I'm so glad…that you came for me…"

"Yes, Kiriko. I made it over here, just for you. Just for you…"

She smiled, feeling his hands wrap around her, gently.

"Because…you're mine…"

"I…I know…" A note of unease crept into her heart, but she pushed it aside.

"You belong to me…my toy…" His fingers dug into her back, squeezing her uncomfortably.

"Sonic…? Why are…"

"Hm. Did you think I would come for you if I didn't have any use for you? You're my little doll, Kiriko. Come with me, won't you?"

"You're not him…get away from me," she said, struggling.

"Oh, come now. Why run away from what you are, my pet? This has always been your purpose, your little role. Can't I take a part of you for myself as well?" he said with a sadistic grin. He squeezed her tighter, ensuring that she wouldn't escape.

"What do you mean? Stop talking-"

"Nonsense, little girl? Do you still think yourself _pure_? I sensed it the moment I met you."

"No…Sonic, you're not…you can't be Sonic…he wouldn't…."

"Say these things? But people _change_, Kiriko. You are something to behold, aren't you? It would be a shame if I didn't get a _taste_."

"S-stop…I'm not like that…anymore…it…"

"Wasn't your fault? But you wanted it, didn't you? Wanted the attention, the desire…admit it, you _enjoyed _the feeling of being nothing but a doll, bent to their will…"

"No…I …"

"You will _never_ be pure again…I'm the only one who wants you…"

"I…I love you…I…"

"Love? I already have a woman I love. You're just a _side dish_. As you've always been…as you always will be. A tainted little doll…and I'll use you, again and again…"

She whimpered, desperately trying to break free.

"And again…and again…"

She screamed, tears running down her face as his voice echoed in her ears, each syllable tearing her apart, violating her.

"And again…"

"Stop it…please, stop…"

"And again…and again…and again…"

Her body went limp as he squeezed her tighter and tighter, and she could only leave herself to stop resisting, knowing she could do nothing to escape…not his grip, or her past, or her fate. It was inevitable, unable to change.

She was who she was. She would never be loved as anything other than a tool.

"I…" She couldn't hear the distant voice trying to tell her to hold on a moment longer, that everything would be fine soon. It was too far away. She had already given up.

"I am yours to use, Master…my body belongs to you, to use…as you see fit…"

"Tell me what you are, my servant," he whispered.

"I am…tainted…only a plaything for your desires, whatever they may be…"

"Good girl…now I'll give you all of the love that you'll ever need."

The girl, still shackled on the ground, smiled a hollow smile as tears ran down her face.

"Yes…Master…"


	10. Wrath of the Dragon, Act 4

a/n: On to the next one. As always, enjoy and thanks for the support.

* * *

><p>"Little bit tricky…"<p>

Sonic placed one hand in front of himself as he shot forward, bracing for impact.

"But I think I'll just improvise this time."

The fireball hit his right hand, and he could feel it starting to burn quickly. Gritting his teeth, he put his plan into motion.

"**Chaos Control!**"

The fireball was pulled into his hand, sucked up like dirt into a vacuum cleaner. He spun quickly and aimed his left hand at the dragon, currents of wind swirling violently around it. He hadn't done this in a while, and not from this position, either…but this wasn't the time to second guess himself.

"**Sonic Wind!**" Stifling more pain, a burning vortex of wind shot out from his hand and slammed into the dragon, sending it reeling for a moment. Still thinking quickly, Sonic pushed energy into the bottoms of his sneakers, lighting them up before shooting forward at light-speed and landing on the dragon's head. He slammed his left hand into the dragon's head and heard it roar in pain, the purifying power reaching through its hide. A wave of flame washed over the dragon's body, forcing Sonic to jump off towards a tall spire of earth and roll down to the ground below.

"Better than I expected," he grumbled as he uncurled from his roll. The gamble had paid off, since his right hand hadn't taken too much damage and his left was slowly healing itself – the key word being slowly. He wasn't keen on using his hands for any extended amount of time, but that in itself – time – was the issue. Had he been here alone, he could very well stall. But he wasn't – he had Kiriko to tend to. And every moment he was fighting was another moment that she was possibly in pain.

That wouldn't do at all. He had to hurry, like it or not.

The issue was that he didn't have anything to beat the dragon with…not anything conventional, and while that hadn't stopped him before, he was having trouble since his opponent was constantly keeping at range _and_ had an active defence that could keep him at bay. He would exploit Chaos Control in any other situation, but the heat and ash were sapping his energies.

Still sweating, he cursed his luck for a moment as he took off to avoid the rising pillars of molten rock chasing him. Did his abilities include the power to reverse the direction of the wind so that it would flow towards him? The books hadn't said, and he hadn't had an opportunity to test that theory out like he had with the power of his left hand.

"Something I can use…"

There wasn't much he could think of that was useful: fire, fire, molten rocks in various states, lava, more fire…

He couldn't use his blade around all of this heat, either…or…

"Steel sharpens steel…"

Why did that come to him all of a sudden? The dragon was still meandering about in the sky, and the flames were still around him. He stopped as the pillars stopped chasing him.

"Steel…sharpens steel…"

At a million miles per second, Sonic's brain went to work. Since he hadn't been able to run much, he resorted to reading and studying in most of his spare time. First out of boredom, then a general desire for knowledge.

It was there in the library that he met _her_, the one who had given him _that name_.

"_You seem just like the legends say…I believe you're destined for great things once you leave this place, Sonic."_

"_Legends? What legends?"_

"_You will know in time, as I don't know everything myself. But I hope that you can help us soon."_

"_You said that I'm getting out of here? That's not possible, I'm…"_

"_Trust me…you'll be set free soon enough." She started to walk away._

"_Wait! At least tell me your name," he said. She smiled and turned to him, dark blue hair swirling around her. _

"_As you wish, O God of Wind…my name is…"_

His eyes snapped open, and he dodged a fireball that came down from above him. The words still rang in his head, all of the knowledge from the past five years rushing through his head until he came up with something.

He'd have to end it now, starting with this next move.

Sonic drew his sword, pushing violent currents of wind through the blade as he raced towards the Red Dragon once more.

* * *

><p>"You're sure that you don't want me to take care of that for you?"<p>

"I'm fine, Rouge. Thanks for the offer."

Shadow the Hedgehog was currently finishing paperwork at one of the local Station Square Police Department precincts. His friend and G.U.N colleague, Rouge the Bat, was looking at her nails as she sat on the edge of his desk.

"I'm just worried that it might take a while. You always were a perfectionist, Shadow."

"Hm," was all that she got in reply, and she sighed. Apparently, not very much had changed in five years, although she felt that she understood him now more than she did back then. And although a bit unnerving…he seemed to have figured her out as well. He sometimes knew things that she didn't know about herself.

Seeing as he _was _the Ultimate Life and her close friend, however, she didn't mind too much. At times, she welcomed the help…shopping was always fun with him around, she thought with a smile.

"You coming to the mall with me tomorrow?"

"What time?"

"Around three. I want to get something stylish for the event coming up."

"Move it down an hour. I've got security detail on the north side."

"Again?"

"It's of interest to me, Rouge. I don't do this for the paycheque," he said while rising from his desk. "I'm done. Ready?"

"Born ready, babe," she said playfully. "We gonna eat first?"

"Yeah. Might head downtown afterwards and get that new cable for the mixer…what's on the list for tonight?" he asked while cracking his neck.

"Top 40." The black hedgehog groaned at the answer. "I know, I know…but you know it, Shaddie, whatever brings the money in."

"Tch. I suppose…no choice if you're in it for the profit," he mused out loud. She placed a hand on his shoulder as they walked down the precinct steps.

"Friday, you run the booth all night in exchange."

"And if someone requests _Black and Yellow_ again?" he asked.

She smiled. "Tell 'em to jump a cliff." Shadow allowed himself a small smile at that.

"Sounds fair. You've got a deal."

"Good. Now, where should we grab a bite?" Rouge started to walk forward before realizing that Shadow wasn't beside her. "Shadow? What's up?"

"…Don't know." He signalled her silently, and she nodded in reply, rounding the next corner that she saw before flying onto the roof above. Crossing it silently, she used her ears to pick up the sounds coming from the nearby alley. The phone in her pocket vibrated just then, and she picked it up.

"Area's clear. Just watch your back; we need to keep this on the low. Someone wanted to see us."

Rouge shoved her phone back and dropped into the alleyway without a sound, landing beside Shadow and a certain purple chameleon.

"Espio? You couldn't just call us?" she asked, slightly annoyed.

"G.U.N and police phone lines aren't the safest place to exchange classified information."

Rouge nodded at that. He _did_ have a point – and that reminded her to thank that cute fox-boy for the secure line he set up between herself, Shadow, and Omega. She had been wary of her superiors regarding Shadow for the longest time, and it would be a cold day in hell before she let any harm come to him because of their actions.

"Classified? Like how?"

"Sonic came to us one day while on his temporary stint. He asked me personally to keep watch for any…_abnormalities_...regarding his girlfriend Amy Rose. He told me that cost was not an issue, but I told him the same thing."

"Pro bono, eh?"

"After what he has survived, it is the least I can do for such an honourable man."

"Did you find anything?" Rouge asked.

"It disturbed me at first, because I found nothing. Then one thing led to another, and I believe that I have uncovered something…something that we are not supposed to know about. Your organization is very, very interested in what Amy Rose does with her time, but I'm sure that it's not because she's the main subject."

"Sonic…" Shadow concluded. "Is it related to the time he served in prison?"

"That's what bothers me. It has nothing to do with it, but several international organizations have been contacted and told the opposite. They are actively watching his movements because of his time served."

"Hold up, where'd you-"

"Tails," Espio and Shadow answered simultaneously. The former continued. "He said that it was child's play to obtain the files since he works in proximity with both the Department of Defense and G.U.N on certain projects. I asked him to find out what he could about these events."

"Clever boy," Rouge said with a smile.

"Indeed. The only information he couldn't obtain was the reason for the investigation in the first place…but he _did_ find out that a certain someone was one of the people involved. Doctor Ivo Robotnik."

"Also known as…" Rouge started.

"…Eggman," Shadow finished. "We need to talk to him at some point. Although…I'm not certain that he even knows the full story himself."

"I think we can settle for the info that we'll get," Rouge concluded. "If anything, it'll get us closer to the truth."

"Agreed."

"I will continue my surveillance and maintain contact with Tails," Espio said.

"It's just our little party, I presume?" Rouge asked.

The chameleon nodded. "Not even Miss Rose is to know, unfortunate as that is. I fear that something sinister is on the horizon…"

Shadow nodded. "I feel it as well. Take care, Espio."

"I wish safety upon you as well, Shadow." He bowed towards the two before leaving silently. Rouge sighed and looked over at her friend.

"We're in deep again…"

"Yeah. And this time, we can't trust our own government at all."

"What do we do, Shadow?"

"We put our faith in each other," he said as he walked off. "As we always have."

Rouge nodded and followed him back onto the streets. "I guess we can talk over dinner?"

He shook his head. "Not about this. Tomorrow is a new day, Rouge. Let the news settle until then."

Knowing that her friend always gave sound advice, Rouge took it to heart and let the matter rest for the time being. The two walked side by side as the sun started to set over Station Square.


	11. Wrath of the Dragon, Act 5

Sonic slid to a stop, bracing himself as the Red Dragon charged up another attack. He gripped his sword with both hands, the currents of wind visibly twisting around it. What he was about to do was crazy, he knew, but he saw no other way to end the fight with his limited resources.

"Come on…" He drew his blade back, watching as the lava surrounded him and left him with a small piece of land to stand on. Large pillars of rock boxed him in, and the temperature continued to rise as he waited, sapping his energy further. He still refused to move, holding himself steady.

It was irritating to have to do this, and his old self wouldn't have stood for it at all. But those days were long past, and he needed the little calm that he had right now in order to make it out alive. Earth and molten rock gathered around the fireball as the dragon held it in its mouth, turning it into a meteor of sorts.

His remaining foothold was disappearing, but still Sonic held his composure, sweat dripping down his face. His eyes held a look of defiance as he waited.

Finally, the Red Dragon let loose its attack, causing a loud boom to go off in the immediate vicinity. Sonic could feel the heat as the massive flaming meteor raced towards him, but he already knew what to do in this case.

The swirling wind around his blade became even more violent, and he drew his arms back before swinging forward with as much might as he could. Pushing an absurd amount of energy into his arms, there was a loud sonic boom as he followed through with his swing. The lava and hot rock was pulled upwards as he slashed through the stone pillars in front of him, tearing them apart as the sword glowed white-hot. The torrent of wind mixed with the flames as it shot towards the dragon, turning the flames a brilliant white as they slammed into their target.

The dragon roared in immense pain, its own flames overwhelmed by the heat of the new ones as they engulfed its body. It spun and twirled in the air, trying to relieve itself of some of the pain it was feeling. In desperation, it put out all of the flames on its hide, and the agony disappeared.

It was within that instant that Sonic used Chaos Control to launch himself above the dragon, and with the last of his strength, he slammed the white-hot sword through the dragon's head, gripping it tightly with his left hand.

"Where there is light…darkness cannot hide…"

He forced one last action, channelling power into his left hand and surging it through the sword.

"**Hurricane Spark!**"

With a final screech, the dragon turned to ash in a burst of light. Sonic fell from the sky, landing hard on the pitch-black ground and rolling to a stop, exhausted. All of the molten rock had solidified, making it safe to move about without fear of being destroyed.

However, the blue hedgehog could care less about any of that.

The red orb rolled towards him, and he stood up long enough to hold it in his hands. A wealth of power seemed to flow into his body…immense strength…

As before, he placed the gem into his right hand and crushed it with what strength he had left. He wanted badly to rest, but knew that he had no time to do so. Heading through the exit that had appeared, he slowly made his way to the third of the dragons, Earth.

* * *

><p>Activity had increased in the day that Sonic and Kiriko had left the village of Chun-nan. A report had come in that a statue at the Five Dragons' Shrine had been destroyed, and fearing terrorism, the People's Liberation Army had responded to the call. The helicopter that Sonic had noticed on his way into the tombs had happened upon the split statue and relayed images back to base.<p>

Not even twenty-four hours later, armed soldiers started investigating the nearby village and its people. Some were all too eager to sell out the most notable visitor.

"Sonic the Hedgehog. We've been warned about him…"

A grey-haired colonel smoked his pipe outside Lin's shop. His brown eyes were intense as he looked over the documents he held in his hands. The bars on the left side of his jacket represented his rank, and his medals the various achievements he had reached in his career. Catching and interrogating Sonic would be a good notch in his belt.

"Colonel Dao, sir."

He turned to one of his subordinates. "What is it?"

"Sir, we learned that he had paid for a girl's stay at the inn. She was a hedgehog, as he was, sir."

"Hedgehog…what was her name?"

"We do not know, sir."

"Description?"

"Blue, sir. A lighter shade than his."

_Not the one that I was thinking. Still…that's a little odd. He didn't come in with her, so…_

"Thanks for the update. I'll see you all later with further instructions. Relay the message."

"Sir, yes, sir."

With bated breath, Yilin hid in the shadow of a nearby house, recording the conversation in her mind. There was going to be trouble, she knew it. But…what could one person do?

The bracelet on her wrist glowed brightly, and she dismissed the thought. One person _could_ make a difference. And if she had to be that one person, then so be it.

Not making a sound, she slipped past the guards on the path to the shrine and went on her way. The dwindling light played to her advantage, allowing her to slip in and out of the shadows at will. Her steps were feather light as she weaved her way to the shrine.

The new entrance stood open to her, the two halves of the statue lying on either side of it while some soldiers investigated. A branch snapped nearby as she made her way to the entrance, and the soldiers reacted quickly, drawing their rifles and screaming for whoever it was to come out. Two of them stayed behind to guard the entrance.

Like a whisper in the wind, Yilin stepped from behind one of the fallen statue halves, and dropped onto the steps in total silence behind the guards. She was quiet even as she headed deeper into the tombs, towards the torch that still lit the broken rock ahead.

* * *

><p>Tails sat on the bench outside of his workshop, filtering through the data that was presently on his laptop. It was about midnight, but he usually didn't sleep at this time, anyways. He heard a noise above him, but ignored it for the most part as the sound of heels clicking on the ground came closer. His eyes floated up and to the left, and he acknowledged his visitor with a nod before going back to his work.<p>

She sat beside him quietly, adjusting her 'club dress' as she called it: a simple white blouse buttoned up halfway with a pair of dark jeans. From what the fox could note, she was likely working the bar earlier – he had been to her club on a few visits in his spare time, not counting the incidents with Emerl years before.

"Everything okay, sugar?"

He smiled, her consistently sultry voice pleasing to his ears for some reason that he couldn't yet understand. There wasn't much of a need to seriously investigate it.

"I should be alright. How about you?"

"I'm just taking a break. Club's jumping tonight, you should have come along."

"I've got work in the morning."

"You've _always_ got work. Even when you don't have work."

"I don't really get days off, Rouge."

"I suppose, in your line of work…"

There was silence between them, save the sound of Tails' fingers tapping the keyboard on his laptop.

"I…I know about what's going on. Espio told me," she said softly.

"…I figured that he would."

She turned to him. "How come you didn't tell us?"

"I didn't find the right time, or the right thing to say…and I'm not running point, anyways. Espio is. It's only right, since Sonic asked him first."

"I would think that you-"

"I'm a little _too_ eager, Rouge. I…I run into Eggman, or Robotnik, or whoever almost every day. We work closely together on some projects. Making a lot of advances, too. It's just that…"

"What?"

He closed the laptop and set it down, wiping his mouth. "My heart's turning black, I think. I'm no good when it comes to anything concerning Sonic anymore. Can't even talk about the subject much, or else I just get a bit aggressive. I keep thinking about what they did to him five years ago. The anger never left me, it's still there. It's definitely growing with the data I recovered recently…they're going after Amy, too."

"It…must be pretty hard," she said sadly.

"They locked up my brother, the only family I ever had. They were determined to make him rot in a prison cell. He comes back, and does nothing wrong – unless you count saving pedestrians and babies and people in burning buildings as malicious – yet they still watch him like he's doing something evil. And Amy…Rouge, I completely lost it once Espio told me. I wanted to just…" He stopped himself.

"You wanted to kill someone."

He looked over at her, nodding.

"I feel something like that in my heart, whenever someone talks badly about Shadow. I want to…just end them, like that," she said while snapping her fingers. "I've taken classes for it, but they don't help. Just a waste of time and money."

"You understand, then…I mean, I was a wreck after Sonic left, but Amy, she…she saved me. I think I would have gone insane if not for her. She was…she looked broken, but she did so much for me. Just taking care of me, when I thought I couldn't take care of myself. She's amazing. She's…really, she's my big sister, like Sonic's my big brother. And I just read the data, and something explodes inside of me…I don't know. It's just that I can't really deal with it that well."

"It's…a trigger. Touching on someone's triggers would set them off, no matter what. It's not just a normal thing you're angry about, this is about your family, here," Rouge said.

He sighed and leaned his head back against the wall behind him. "I want to get to the bottom of this, so that I can protect them both…"

"You're not alone, you know."

"Yeah…just be careful, Rouge. I don't want anything to happen to you…because if anything does, Shadow won't be the one they'll need to fear." She stared into his bright blue eyes, remembering how much he had changed from the years before. What had been a simple spark of confidence now filled him completely – he would and could do anything that he set his mind to.

Still young, yet he had seen and felt so much in his life. A strong, lively, and sometimes cold disposition, a brain that seemed to grow exponentially with each passing day, and a passion to protect those that he cared about. Tails had grown up in his own way, acknowledged by everyone who knew him as an independent and dynamic personality.

"I still look up to you, you know."

She blinked after hearing that. "Me, you say? I don't have a three-hundred plus IQ or anything like that, so why?"

"It's…who you are, Rouge. I admire it, how you're so mature yet never forget yourself. You can navigate the reality of this world and not bat an eyelash at whatever comes your way. It's amazing, you know?"

"I didn't know you thought of me that way, kiddo," she said with a smile.

"Like you said, I'm still just a kid…I still need people to look up to, people to guide me in the right direction. And…I guess you remind me of him, a little."

"That so…?" She thought about it for a moment, and had to agree that she and Sonic shared some common traits, which explained how they were friends in the first place. It would make sense for a kid who missed his only family to look for his traits in someone else…she didn't mind it at all.

"C'mon, cutie. Let's say we head over to the club together."

"I'm not sure about that."

"The first thing you need to do is relax and put your faith in others. Give me some of your burden, babe."

"…" He looked up into her eyes, seeing the unwavering confidence that resided in them. For once…he would take her advice.

"Whoa…!" Rouge suddenly felt herself swept off her feet, as the young fox carried her into the skies above the Mystic Ruins.

"What about your computer?"

"Eh, got the data backed up somewhere else already."

"You _do _know I can fly, right?"

"Yeah, but you know…chivalry," he said with a shrug. She gave him a mischievous smile.

"My, my…seems that you've picked up quite a few things from your big brother."

"Yeah, well…"

"A guy like you, still a bachelor…what's this world coming to?" she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. He felt his cheeks flush, a grin coming to his face.

"Gotta find a girl who can keep up, right?"

She only smiled back, leaning her head into his chest as they flew on towards Station Square.


	12. Path to Power: Special Stage 1

a/n: And here's another...eh. Felt like I had to get this one off, despite sacrificing some hours of shut-eye before work. Anyways, hope you all enjoy.

Question on the side, here: wondering if it matters whether I put the chapter titles inside the chapters as opposed to just having them in the list up top. Curious to know which looks better to y'all. Answer if you feel like it.

* * *

><p>Sonic shuffled himself forward, running low on energy but unable to stop moving. He had no time to rest himself right now – Kiriko was in danger, and he promised himself that he would rescue her. Every moment counted.<p>

To his surprise, one of the dragons didn't guard the next room, and it wasn't an open plain. Instead, a pathway of black stone led him to a large circle in the ground ahead, symbols carved into it at regular intervals.

"West…East…North…South…Center…"

The space around him darkened and filled with stars, and soon Sonic found himself floating in the air, the inscriptions in the circle below starting to glow brightly.

Four hooded figures appeared in front of him, standing in the positions outlined by the symbols and wearing different colours.

"Azure Dragon of the East," he said as the first removed his hood, revealing himself.

"Vermillion Bird of the South," he continued, the woman removing her covering.

"White Tiger of the West," he said as the next removed his hood.

"Black Tortoise of the North," he finished as the last removed her hood.

"So, you know of us," the Azure Dragon said. "That makes things much easier on our part, I believe. We are humans, as you can see. I hope that doesn't make you uncomfortable."

"It doesn't, but thanks for asking," Sonic replied.

"I'm guessing you know why you're here?" the blue-haired Quing Long asked next.

"No. But I guess that I'll figure it out in the time that I'm here."

"Eh? In the time that you're here, you say? What makes you think you'll be able to leave unless we say so?" Zhu Que queried, her red eyes staring down the hedgehog. "Look at you! You're a sorry sight!"

"Go easy on him," the white-haired Bai Hu said. "He's still getting adjusted to his abilities."

"That's a dumb excuse! Especially when he destroyed the help we left him!"

"There…is good reason for him…to be wary of the dragons' power…" The soft voice of Xuan Wu interrupted, her messy black hair obscuring her eyes from view.

"Oh, shut up! Always a goody-two shoes!" Zhu Que shot back.

"…"

"Please forgive Zhu Que's temper," Quing Long said. The hedgehog shook his head.

"Don't worry about that. I'm not taking it personally."

"You should," she muttered under her breath.

"Xuan Wu brings up an interesting point," Bai Hu noted. "The power of the Five Dragons comes with risks-"

"The imbalance of _yin yang_," Sonic interrupted.

Quing Long stroked his chin. "How did you deduce this?"

"The reaction with my left hand was strong, far too strong. The dragons have been corrupted by an overabundance of either yin or yang natures."

"That…is correct," Xuan Wu said. "And absorbing those energies…would endanger you as well…there would need to be a proper collection of the abilities in order to use them properly. But the design of these tombs only allows…one direction of movement. You would be overwhelmed by _yang_ and most likely killed."

"So…why not just purify them? You're the new God of Wind, right? What about the Left Hand of Redemption?" Zhu Que asked, now considerably calmed down.

"I used that power, and it either burned or destroyed the dragons completely. They're beyond rescue, and so is their power."

"Another force may have pushed them over the edge," Bai Hu commented. "At least, it seems that way to me. What say you, Xuan Wu?"

"It…would be the correct answer. Another, more sinister force has blackened the souls of the dragons. It may be the same one...that holds the servant of Water in the darkness of these tombs."

"You know about Kiriko?" Sonic asked.

"Kiriko…? An interesting name, but why give a servant a name?" Quing Long asked.

"It's obvious."

Everyone turned to the red-head as she spoke. "He sees her as more than just a tool to complete a mission. She means something to him, as another living being. That's why he's here, and that's why he wants to save her. I get your comment from earlier now…you don't think that you have much time, do you…um…?"

"Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog," he said.

"Right, Sonic. This must be frustrating for you. I know I'd be busting out of here as soon as possible," Zhu Que said with a thoughtful nod.

"I know that I'm here for a reason, so I'm fine with waiting."

"Wisdom beyond your years…and a resolve stronger than iron. I like this kid already," Bai Hu said with a laugh.

"You will succeed…as you carry a part of each of us with you," Xuan Wu said with a smile. "And your pure heart will carry you…through any difficulty. You were not born as the God of Wind…"

"And neither were you simply chosen."

A new voice spoke up, and a man in a golden robe appeared in the middle of the group. The others bowed their heads in reverence, and Sonic followed suit as the man removed his hood, revealing his spiky gold hair.

"At ease, everyone. You as well, Sonic the Hedgehog."

"Eh? What's this all about, Huang Long?" Zhu Que asked, incredulous.

The Yellow Dragon of the Center simply smiled and answered. "It is as I said. He was not born a god, nor did an outside force choose him. The potential has always been inside of him as a hero of justice, defender of the weak, and light in times of darkness."

"Is that to say…the legend exists because he…made it so?" Xuan Wu asked.

"Well, _that's_ never happened before," Quing Long said, scratching his head. "A self-made legend…huh."

"Story of my life," Sonic said with a shrug.

"Confident, too. What's not to love?" Zhu Que quipped with a smirk.

"As we speak, one of the Chosen has made their way into the tombs," Huang Long said.

"The Chosen are those who have come in contact with a god at some point in their lives," Bai Hu explained. "They also have the distinction of carrying an item that connects them to that god."

"Bracelet from Mazuri. Has to be Yilin," Sonic replied. "What's her role?"

"She won't enter the tombs, but she'll be dropped off somewhere else. The Chosen are protected by the power of the god they came in contact with, so she should be fine from the darkness around her."

"…And she'll run into Kiriko, as well."

"Yeah. Of course, you should hope that she _doesn't_ run into the ones manipulating your servant, or she'll be next. The Chosen Item only holds so much power," Zhu Que noted. "So you're still up against the clock, it seems."

"But you must rest…you are in no condition to continue as…you are," Xuan Wu said with worry.

"I don't have the time to rest…I'm sorry," Sonic said to her apologetically. "The more time I sit here-"

"The less time that she has. We know. But the road ahead is treacherous, Sonic. You need preparation in order to make your way further…and towards the final duel," Huang Long said.

"It's sure to be her," Zhu Que said. "A cheap shot like that is too hard to resist, whoever these guys are. By passing up the power of the Five Dragons, you open the door for them to be used against you in the end…no doubt that your servant Kiriko will be used as a vessel for their twisted power. The God of Water's will to destroy you still remains inside of her."

"You must rest," Xuan Wu said again, a little more forcefully. "We will prepare you for the road ahead…give me your sword."

Sonic unsheathed his blade, surprised at the fact that it remained white-hot after the last battle.

"The elements have great effect here…" She touched the sword, dousing it instantly in water and cooling it down to a reasonable temperature.

"Gutsy kid," Bai Hu said. "Using Metal to defeat Fire…"

"Could have backfired," Quing Long said.

"But it didn't. Gotta roll the dice sometimes," Zhu Que replied, brushing back her red hair. "Anyways, let's get started, huh? We'll start with the-"

"Left Hand of Redemption," Huang Long finished. The red-head huffed.

"Can't have any fun, can I?"

"Not yet, kiddo. You'll get your chance," Bai Hu said.

"…" Xuan Wu stood by patiently, aiming to go last herself. The blade repulsed the water she had used extremely quickly, as if on a reflex. Looking at the sword's owner, she came to a conclusion, and resolved to try and fix the problem.

She hoped his patience was still intact when her turn came…they would both need it.


	13. Path to Power: Special Stage 2

a/n: Can't be said enough. Thanks for the support, everyone. Now on with the show...provided the lot of you don't want my head after this. Anyways, enjoy.

* * *

><p>"So high and mighty…he'll see where <em>that<em> gets him in the end, won't he?"

In the darkness of the shrine, the blue-eyed stranger continued to manipulate her new puppet. Still on the ground with her hands shackled, Kiriko sat in silence, her eyes empty of the light they had before.

Green and red spheres of light floated towards her and circled before entering her body.

"Very good. Once you have the powers of all five dragons, he won't stand a chance."

"Chance…?"

"You're the only one who can free him, little one. You love him, don't you? He isn't himself, your master. You must defeat him in order to stop the manipulation of his heart."

"I…understand…"

"Good. You'll be awakened at the right moment…"

The stranger left Kiriko to her own thoughts.

"I'm the only one…who can do this…I won't fail. I will not fail my master…"

In the meantime, Sonic was working with the mystical humans he had encountered earlier, trying to balance his _qi_, or life energies.

"Coming along quicker than I thought," the red-headed Zhu Que commented. She was having the hedgehog shadow her movements in one of the many _qigong_ exercises he would take on, the purpose being to build his natural energies up to a higher point than they were before.

"Same here," Sonic replied. "I thought this would be harder. It feels a lot like controlling the Chaos Emeralds."

"You can use them?" she asked.

"Yeah. I can even do this…" He demonstrated Chaos Control as he appeared some distance behind her. "…without an Emerald in hand, which is pretty impressive for what it is. Still a bit draining, though."

"Like I said," the azure-haired Quing Long said, "He's got more than enough _qi_ to work with, and it'll continue to grow unless he does something drastic with himself."

"It feels like it's flowing a bit better, though. Thanks," Sonic said.

"As it's already been said, you resemble a bit of us all in some way," Bai Hu noted. "We could always make you better-rounded, but I think your strength lies in what you've already got. You manage your qi well enough – your body's been quite resilient for years, so the traits of Metal are already inside of you."

"An abundance of energy comes from within you, so I believe the traits of Wood have been met," Quing Long said.

"You're a pretty explosive guy, persistent, and dynamic too. Looks like you're representing Fire pretty well," Zhu Que agreed.

"…"

"What say you, Xuan Wu?" Bai Hu asked. "Does Sonic meet your conditions as well?"

"There is…only one thing…"

She floated towards him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Forgive me…for what I will do."

"!"

In an instant, Sonic found himself suspended in a cube of water, which violently swirled around and made it hard for him to orient himself. He snarled and bared his teeth – not at the woman, but at the fact that he was trapped inside water like this, unable to even swim out as he would if he were stuck in the ocean.

"That doesn't look safe…why's he panicking like that?" Zhu Que asked.

"He…has a dislike…no, more accurately, a fear of water, of drowning as well…"

"It seems a bit cruel," Quing Long said.

"You may…call it what you wish…"

Between trying to right himself and keeping calm, Sonic found that he was having a hard time conserving his oxygen as the water raged around him. He knew how to swim to some extent, maybe not against a riptide at this point, but he could get himself to the surface of a body of water in enough time. This was completely different, however. He was stuck with no way out, and he was running out of air.

"I think he's been in there long enough," Bai Hu commented. "Let the kid go, already."

"I shall not," the raven-haired woman replied. "This…is as necessary as the training you provided. Do not mock my intelligence…"

"Getting snippy, are we? Two can-"

"Zhu Que, be calm." Huang Long placed a hand on her shoulder. "She has her reasons for this trial, and you must try and understand her position. Her worry outweighs all of ours combined."

"…If you say so…but if he drowns, then what?"

"All we can do at this point is wait and see."

"…"

Struggling to hold his breath, Sonic found his eyes wandering into the calm, dark eyes of the woman in front of him. Somehow, she looked worried, even though she was the one doing this. There had to be a way out, but he just couldn't figure out what it was…

"Is…that it…?" Xuan Wu whispered sadly. "…I guess…it's true, then. There is a limit to every being…"

"Dammit, let him out!" Zhu Que yelled. "He'll die at this rate!"

"What would the point be?" Bai Hu challenged. "We would just release him to the dragons and he would be destroyed in due time. If not by them, then by the final challenge ahead, without a doubt."

"…"

"He is right," Huang Long said. "To achieve the power he needs, he has to reflect the natures of us all. The inability to pass Xuan Wu's test reveals his crippling flaw-"

"There is…something…"

All turned to the water prison, watching Sonic intently as he closed his eyes. Bubbles streamed out from his mouth, but there was something strange within the waters.

"Cherry blossoms…rose petals…"

"Hey…what's going on now? Where'd all those come from?" Zhu Que asked.

The waters were starting to calm, and Xuan Wu let out a deep sigh of relief. There really _was _a reason to believe, now. He wasn't just a legend in name – now there was proof that he really could achieve what nobody else had. Now there was light in the darkness.

The water around Sonic became still, and he gave a small smile before pulling the water inwards, swirling it into a spinning ball on one of his fingers. The blossoms and petals wove their way around him as he flexed his free hand.

"I hope that I passed."

"You did…you surely did," Xuan Wu said with a happy smile. "I ask your forgiveness…and I can see that the nature of Water resides in your heart as well. My reasons…were selfish…I know that I can offer no apologies for my actions, but I have no regret for them, either…"

"As long as you aren't second-guessing yourself, it's cool," Sonic said casually. "You've got your reasons for what you do. Don't worry, though. If you need a reason to believe, then put your faith in me…nothing I can do but make the dreams reality, right?" He handed her the swirling ball of water, now filled with sweet-smelling rose petals. She smiled and held the ball in her hands.

"It is as…you say. I will leave my hopes with you, Sonic the Hedgehog."

"Yeah…no worries."

"In passing Xuan Wu's test, you have passed mine as well," Huang Long said. "You have a great harmony with your inner energies, something proved by the existence of your 'second will'."

"Second will?" Zhu Que asked. "How can one man have two wills?"

"Love," Xuan Wu answered. "He exists not only for himself, but for the sake of the one he loves as well…his heart is bound to hers and hers to his. He carries her spirit within himself, and it serves as a source of strength and stability within. Huang Long…perhaps it is that his second will is the reason for his harmony…as opposed to his harmony being the reason…for his second will."

"It may be so," he replied with a nod. "They are surely tied into each other."

"To give up a part of yourself so willingly to another…that's what love is," Bai Hu commented. "It might be a source of immortality, perhaps. As long as she wills his safety, no real harm should come of him."

"If she loves him so much that her spirit manages to make itself known on the physical plane…it might be more than just theory," Quing Long said.

"Just full of surprises, aren't you?" Zhu Que said with a sigh.

"Never a dull moment," Sonic said with a smile.

"Well, just be careful out there. Those dragons aren't going to play nice with you."

"Your toughest tests will come ahead, Sonic. Prepare yourself," Bai Hu warned.

"Yeah, I will. Anything else?"

"We will meet again before the final road," Huang Long replied. "And more secrets will be revealed. You will be ready to hear them then."

"Alright…I'll see you all later, then." Sonic floated towards the opened door in front of him, leaving the others behind.

"You put so much faith in him, Xuan Wu…are you so sure of his strength?" Quing Long enquired.

"I am now…I know that he will succeed where we failed. It will come to pass," she replied with assurance.

"I'm gonna bet on him, too. In the meantime, we should be preparing ourselves for the history of the ancients," Zhu Que said. "Don't want to miss any details when we start the big show."

"Indeed…once he proves himself as the God of Wind, this journey will become a mere prelude. I think…I might know who this sinister force is," Bai Hu mused. "But I have no proof."

"We're probably all thinking the same thing in this case," Zhu Que answered. "And if it is who we all suspect it to be…well, that just makes this first journey even more important."

* * *

><p>Yilin had reached a place where someone managed to stand out in the darkness. They were shackled and seemed lifeless…that was, until she attempted to wake that someone up by touching them.<p>

The hedgehog girl looked a bit like Sonic, but a different shade of blue and with different eyes…in more ways than one.

She was scared out of her mind, confused, and in pain. Her bonds crumbled at Yilin's touch, and she rose, unsteadily at first. Her balance came to her quickly, and she frantically urged Yilin forward, the small bracelet lighting their way in the darkness and leading them onward.

"Did you think you could escape me, servant?"

The tormenting voice came back, and Kiriko urged Yilin to run as fast and as hard as she could, and the teenager obeyed, feet pounding on the barely visible earth beneath them.

It was then that light flooded over everything.

"Welcome to the Tomb of the Void…are you prepared, little ones?"

Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. The billowing black smoke formed itself into pitch-black water, washing up to the ankles of Yilin and slightly higher on the shorter Kiriko. Fins skimmed the surface of the dark waters, and Kiriko stood close to the young girl, calling forth her katana to her hand and brandishing it as fiercely as she could.

"Are you alright?"

The hedgehog lied as best she could, her breaths fleeting and her strength draining with every moment.

"I…am fine. We will make it through this."

There wasn't much time. The darkness was creeping back into her, and she knew that if it won again, all would be lost.

The massive shark jumped at them, teeth ready to tear off flesh. Yilin put on a brave face, holding fast to Kiriko with one hand.

The warrior swung her blade, knowing that failure was not an option.

And it was then that her vision failed her.

The last thing she remembered was the feeling of unbearable pain on the left side of her body.

The last thing she heard was a despairing scream.


	14. Wrath of the Dragon, Act 6

a/n: I probably need to stop updating this late, but work is…eh. Anyways, thanks for the support as always and enjoy.

* * *

><p>Sonic entered the next field and shot forward with no hesitation. The earth below him transformed and attempted to grab at him as he ran, transforming into giant, cavernous jaws and snapping constantly at his legs.<p>

The giant Yellow Dragon stared him down with its square yellow eyes before surging forward, diving for the hedgehog. Sonic swiftly slid underneath while dodging the sharp metal spears that shot up from the ground as he passed. He drew his sword in a flash and struck at the dragon, only to hear a loud clang as metal met metal. The now metallic beast circled and fired a powerful bullet of water, tearing apart the ground where Sonic once stood.

The blue hedgehog surveyed his surroundings as he sailed through the air, noting the shifting of the rocky formations that made up the vast area. He placed his sword in front of himself and barely fended off the Yellow Dragon as it used the metal on itself to turn itself into a massive spinning drill. Sonic rolled off to one side and let the dragon shoot past as he fell.

In a trail of dust, he took off again, dodging sharp blades of metal that entered his path at random. He spun into a ball and tore through many of them with ease before uncurling and accelerating past its zone of influence. Several fireballs came at his position, but instead of running on, he turned and slashed through them all with his sword. Throwing the heated sword into a spin around his fingers, he threw it hard at the dragon in the sky, managing to pierce its metallic shell.

"**Chaos Control!**"

He warped himself to where the sword landed and grabbed onto it with his left hand, surging power through it.

"**Hurricane Spark!**"

The purifying power shot through the blade and into the dragon, causing it to roar out in pain. The metal then started to encase the sword, and Sonic quickly withdrew it, starting his freefall to earth…or so he thought.

The ground rose up to him, jaws opened wide as it caught and dragged him down into its depths. The dragon recovered from the last attack and curled into a ball, the metal forming spikes as it spun into a buzz saw. It aimed itself downwards at Sonic as it tore through the earth that had trapped him.

Sonic gripped his sword tightly and went into a spin as he held it out in front of himself, creating a violent torrent of wind around his spinning form. The spinning dragon met with it, and they went at each other in a battle of brute force. The Yellow Dragon seemed to be slowly winning, pushing Sonic further into the earth, but Sonic countered by charging his spin attack with a Sonic Boost, pushing his revolutions past their limits as he started to slice through the metallic dragon.

His opponent threw in the towel, ending its spin and grafting earth onto its wounds as it burst upwards out of the ground. Sonic followed suit, taking a moment to regain his bearings after spinning about so quickly.

"This won't be so easy…I don't exactly have the power to create Wood, since that's what overcomes Earth in this case. Water defers to Earth, Earth bears Metal…"

His musings ended as the dragon shot more water bullets towards him, now infused with the power of wind for deadlier attacks. Sonic slashed through the attacks when he could, dodging the rest as he moved off in another direction.

"Probably should think about this…Earth defers to Wood…" There had to be a reason for it, right? What did Wood have over Earth?

As if on cue, roots shot upwards out of the ground, aiming to snag and trip him up as they did when he fought the Green Dragon. The attacks from the dragon came steadily, and now included fast spears of wood that rammed deeply into the ground as they missed the speedy hedgehog.

A barrage of them came down, and Sonic performed a jumping turn, leaping onto one after the other and rushing upwards towards the dragon, his right hand outstretched.

"**Sonic** **Wind!**"

A powerful blast of wind shot out from Sonic's palm, hitting the dragon head on and chipping away some of its face as it connected. The hedgehog blocked the blast of water that slammed into him next, landing on his feet and ready to attack again.

"That was an opportunity to try and melt my sword," Sonic mused as he looked upwards at the charging dragon. He dodged the wide swing of its bladed tail as he remembered what had happened when he managed to break through the fireballs from earlier – they didn't pose as much of a risk to his sword as the Red Dragon's attacks did, but they had the same effect of heating up his sword…

"Fire overcomes Metal…"

He jumped over a return swing of the tail and countered with a quick slash, hitting the dragon with a wave of wind. Using the extra time as it was stunned, Sonic ran and jumped upwards, chambering a punch with his left hand. Sharp blades of metal shot out from the dragon's hide in defence, and Sonic shifted his blade to his feet as he rose, slamming it broadside onto the jagged edges before kicking off and falling back towards the ground, again avoiding the dragon's sharp blades as he met the earth. He back-pedalled a safe distance before sliding to a stop.

"Metal overcomes Wood…"

He looked to one of the large wooden spears nearby, noting how it easily tore through the earth below it. An idea came to his head as a result.

"Wood overcomes Earth. I don't have Wood…"

The dragon rushed towards him again, covered in sharp spines of metal, its jaws opened wide.

"But I'm not going to need it," he finished with a smirk.

* * *

><p>The blue-eyed tormentor was perplexed at this point in time. She saw the hedgehog girl bitten by the jet-black shark – it drew no blood, but it had ruined the left part of her body completely as its jaws sunk into her flesh.<p>

Kiriko had started to fall backwards, the pain overwhelming her. But something unexpected had happened…the girl beside her, after letting out a scream of terror, managed to gather herself for a brief moment.

It was afterwards that she proceeded to do something most would consider insane.

Her hands balled up into fists, and the fear in her stomach mixed with the fire in her eyes. She pulled an arm back and slammed it into the shark's head. She then pulled the other back and did the same, repeating it over and over with a loud battle-cry.

The shark tried to sink its teeth further into its prey, but it was fading into nothingness with each punch. Finally, the dark phantom disappeared, leaving Kiriko to collapse into the murky waters as Yilin tended to her.

For the first time, the blue-eyed stranger let out a growl of frustration. However, a sense of calm returned to her as Kiriko, shaking from the damage she had received, tried to stand on her own and failed. The smile of pearly white teeth returned, mocking her in her pain.

"I think that should be enough…the Chosen was but a minor annoyance, after all. You cannot resist the darkness any longer, my puppet…"

Kiriko felt herself getting colder and colder…she knew that even with the light afforded to her by this brave girl, the darkness had reached too far into her being.

"I…thank you…"

"You're not okay at all," Yilin said with worry. "We need to get you out of here!"

"No…"

"No? What are you saying? That shark, it almost killed you!"

"It…wasn't intending to destroy me…"

"Say what…? Then…?"

"It was…infecting me with the darkness of these tombs…since my heart had already fallen, it was too much for me to resist…" She looked at the bracelet the human girl wore. "But you…you managed to save me, at least for a little while…one of the Chosen…"

"The Chosen…_me?_ You mean _that's_ what this bracelet represents?"

"Yes…you can find your way to the end of this road…and you are protected from the darkness because of the power…of the God of Wind…"

"You mean Sonic…"

"Indeed…I…I am beyond rescue…"

"Don't say that! If Sonic's here...!"

"My heart is painted black. I have no time left… or any future to speak of. The dragons' power already resides within me, and when it is complete, I will not exist as myself…only a tool of darkness and destruction. The Life Spark…that is the only way to cleanse those blackened souls, releasing them from their torment…but in exchange, those lives will end. I, with no true self…will be scattered to the wind, once I am purified by that power…"

"I won't give up," Yilin said boldly. "I'll find this Life Spark, and I'll help you return to normal. I promise."

Kiriko thought for a moment before nodding, pointing the way for the determined girl.

"I believe…that way should lead you to the Hall of the Mystics…follow the path of light, young one…"

"Right. I'll get going, then. Just hold on until I get back!"

"I…will try…"

Yilin nodded in response before taking off through the darkness as it fell over them once more.

"How very lucky…I can't touch that girl, because of what she is…but as for _you_…"

The blue-eyed girl smiled as she placed a hand on Kiriko's head.

"I'll play with you to my heart's content…"

"…I am sorry…"

"You…_sorry_? For what?" she asked, genuinely curious as to what the hedgehog had to say.

"You must be in such pain…to not know what love is…"

A pause. "Love…I see. You're incorrect, you know."

Her mouth widened into a twisted grin.

"I actually _love_ to hear you scream…"

* * *

><p>"This had better be important."<p>

"Trust me, it is."

The sun had risen over the city of Station Square, and it was currently 7:30 A.M. Amy Rose rolled out of her bed (well, it wasn't _her_ bed, but Sonic had left the place for her to use), woken by the sound of the phone next to it ringing incessantly.

"You sound like Sonic after a long night…"

"You know, what can I say? I party hard," the pink hedgehog replied drowsily.

"Yeah, I bet," the fox replied wittily. "You, a bowl of popcorn, and _Mean Girls_ in surround sound. _Hardcore_, dude. I bet you used extra butter like a _real_ bad chick."

"Whatever. Listen, I know we're like, family now, but this is early for me, baby bro."

"Like I said, this is actually important. Make sure your accounts are balanced…we're going to Spagonia."

"Spagonia? You mean to see Professor Pickle?"

"Pickle is actually in Shamar right now. We're going to see someone else. It's a bit of business, a bit of pleasure…best of both worlds, really. You might get some music out there, too. I told the university about you, and they're pretty interested in your work."

"Hm…" Amy rubbed the sleep out of her eyes while thinking about the new orchestral suite that she had started…maybe this was a chance to have it really take off.

"Sounds like the start of something big…guess you can count me in."

"Cool. Just come over when you're ready, and pack light. We can buy most of the things we need in town."

"Fine with me, big spender," Amy said with a smile.

"You know me, I aim to please," Tails replied. "Anyways, I'll see you soon."

"You bet. Love you, Tails." She hung up and let out a yawn before getting ready for the day. Spagonia, huh?

_We'll see where this takes me…_


	15. Wrath of the Dragon, Act 7

a/n: Well, sorry for the wait, just had to get a good feel with this one before handing it to you guys. As always, thanks for the support. I guess we'll start the show.

* * *

><p>He crouched down, sheathing his sword and taking up a runner's starting pose on the ground. The Yellow Dragon raced towards him, but he kept his focus on the current task.<p>

In a streak of blue, he took off towards his opponent, the earth below him cracking from the pressure of his first step. Sonic booms sounded over and over as he picked up speed, the dragon's sharp jaws opened wide and ready to consume him.

Sonic went faster and faster, seemingly ignoring the danger that he was running into with each passing second. The distance between himself and his opponent closed quickly, and he put on one last burst of speed before shooting right into the dragon's open mouth, barely missing a skewering from the sharp metal teeth nearby.

He shot out through the tail, neatly splitting it into two halves with his left hand outstretched and burning brightly with white flame. The dragon slammed into the ground below and thrashed about in pain, its wounds already slowly healing themselves. It came back at Sonic, reforming its metallic armour once more and breathing lethal bursts of wind at the hedgehog. Skidding to a stop from his earlier run, he dodged the shots quickly and skilfully climbed up the dragon, jumping off of its head and rising high into the air. He drew his sword as he fell, holding it in a reverse grip as the bottoms of his shoes lit up in white light.

"That's game."

At the speed of light, Sonic slashed right down the center of the dragon, taking a moment to sheathe his blade as he landed before it split cleanly into two, falling to the ground in pieces. The yellow orb stayed suspended in mid-air for a moment before sliding into two pieces itself and falling into shards on the ground.

The hedgehog examined himself, noting only a few small cuts and nothing else for his troubles. If he had mistimed that last move, he would have been a goner…but he had seen himself make plenty of narrow escapes before, anyways.

"Sometimes, you gotta roll the dice," he said to himself as he continued his walk onward. Another door opened, leading him down the long hallway to his next opponent.

"Once I figure these guys out, it's not all that hard to end things…I wonder what the last fight's gonna be like, then. Kiriko…if she's there, then it might be a tough one, after all. I just hope that I don't have to do anything drastic. I hope Yilin's okay, too…maybe those mystic guys will run into her soon, or something."

He scowled at his predicament. "As much as I want to move at my own pace, I can't. That's really annoying. I waited half a decade to get out of that stupid box, and now some loser's trying to call my shots for me. Like I'm gonna stand for that…"

He reached the next area, a flat one with a surface of metal extending for what seemed like miles around.

The White Dragon was coiled silently in one area, round white eyes focused on Sonic as he walked closer. In an instant, a large metallic dome rose around the two adversaries, locking them both in with each other.

Spouting upwards from the center of the dome was a jet of cold water. Looking down, Sonic could see that it was starting to rise and fill the immediate area, meaning that he would have to end up fighting underwater if things kept going the way that they were. He _did_ mind that fact, and the water was filling up quite quickly – he didn't have much time if he wanted to have an easy go of things.

The dragon moved about, out of range of the hedgehog for the time being as the walls didn't have enough traction to run on, and they were wet with constantly flowing water. Grumbling as the water rose to his knees, Sonic simply sat himself down and meditated, letting the water rise further and further.

_I probably won't have a shot at breathing again once the water fills this area…so it'll come down to whether or not I can tear apart that dragon before I run out of air. I'm all for big gambles, but this is out of my comfort zone…_

He kicked to stay afloat as the water rose to his neck, lifting him higher and higher up. The dragon still circled, white metal composing its hide and gleaming against the waters as it weaved in and out of them.

"Metal generates Water…Earth generates Metal…Fire overcomes Metal…"

Fire _would_ be in short supply in this type of environment. The water continued to rise, and he thought of the recent trial that Xuan Wu had put him through. Once he had calmed down, he had been able to pull the water into a palm-sized sphere. The volume was much greater here, but he wondered if he could do something similar in this case.

"Time to roll the dice again, then."

Yilin reached the grand hall, where the five humans stood in their appointed positions, meditating on the times that had passed since the sealing of the Five Dragons. The glowing of her bracelet caused the black-haired woman to open her eyes.

"You have arrived."

The teenage girl nodded, panting furiously after her hard run to reach the appointed place. "The…Life…Spark…I need…it…"

"The Life Spark…also known as the Light Spark. Its power is beyond measure if used properly."

"For that…girl…I…"

"The Life Spark does not exist on its own. It is a power used by the God of Wind," Xuan Wu said. "If that is what it will take to save the Water servant, then…there is nothing left for you to do."

Yilin turned to leave, but was blocked by a wall of water. "She sent you here for a reason. Your safety is assured from the darkness…because you are here. Leaving would place you back in danger."

"What about her?"

"She has resigned herself to her fate, whatever it may be. There is nothing left for you to do." The woman turned to her comrades. "I have finished my meditations, and…I want to educate Yilin on the true history of this place."

"If that is your will, Xuan Wu, then go. We will continue here."

"Many thanks," she said softly with a respectful nod.

"You are…the Black Tortoise of the South? And you know my name?"

"I only earned this name after my existence on the Earthly plane ended. The names of the Chosen…are also known to us. After many years of slumber, we now know of the reach of this one event…one moment suspended in time. May I give you the history…of the Five Dragons?"

"You're _asking_ me?" Yilin said, confused.

"Only as you willingly open your heart and mind to this truth…will it be revealed unto you."

"Hm…if that's the case, then…I give you permission, Miss Xuan Wu, ma'am."

"I am grateful for your decision. We will sit before we begin. Close your eyes and calm your mind."

Yilin sat cross-legged, imitating the woman in the black robes in front of her.

"Place your hands in mine."

She did as she was told, and Xuan Wu closed her own eyes as she started her tale.

_In times of old, there was war. It consumed the planet and the lives of those therein. _

_This war was known as the War of the Blazing Sky, and as it raged among the gods, so also did it rage among the humans and beasts on the ground below. _

_Many servants and tools of destruction were created in the chaos; some by humans to destroy the gods, some by the humans to destroy each other, some by the gods to destroy the humans that rose against them in the name of their enemies, and some by the gods to torment each other. The other intelligent life, the bipedals that carried animal instinct combined with the progressive thinking of the humans that lived near them, would end up in their own factions, mostly away from the darkness and destruction. Some would join the humans in their defiance of the gods, while others would hide and wait for the tides of war to fade away._

_In the place now known as China was the resting place of the five sacred dragons, each representing a part of the Five Phases. Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. They originally came from Gaia and had the blessing of immortality from the Phoenix that guarded the land, offering peace and protection from the fighting that raged around the world. _

_In a bid to destroy the God of Wind, two of the other gods, Water and Earth, agreed to a pact and dug through the earth in the dead of night, knowing what they would find at the right depth. Gaia, still unsettled at this time, sometimes leeched fragments of power throughout the Earth's surface, and those could be happened upon if one knew where to look._

_The darkness of Gaia proved fatal to the dragons as they absorbed it unwittingly, thanks to the influence of the God of Water in his torrential rains upon the scarred planet. The Five Dragons possessed a perfect balance of energies, from the elements that composed their beings to the yinyang that held their life forces in check. The fragments of the dark side of Gaia corrupted them and threw that perfect balance out of order._

_With the dragons insane and mad with bloodlust, the God of Water presented his own sacrifice, a young woman born of the purest waters in the North of the planet. The purification could not have been without its side effects, but nothing has been known of the North's fate after that time…_

_The servant girl was to be used as a catalyst for the fusion of the Five Dragons' power, so that she could be controlled by the Gods of Water and Earth, and used to destroy the God of Wind. _

_But it would not be so, you see. _

_The God of Wind used his Life Spark to give her the chance to gain a soul, a true and genuine one as opposed to the liquid placeholder that was directly connected with her life force. She accepted his offer and he made a contract with her…so from then on she was bound to his will. She would not know of her true purpose, as a vessel for destruction…her memories were also sealed to keep her from despair._

_The corrupted dragons tried and failed to defeat the God of Wind, and instead resorted to attacking the inhabitants of the planet to air their frustrations. With the Gods absorbed in their fighting, the Phoenix attempted to subdue the dragons itself, but did not succeed. _

_Calling for help throughout the land, five noble souls came to the aid of the Phoenix – five gifted Shaolin monks from the nearby temple where the Phoenix sometimes perched. They had been on a journey, set to return to the monastery where they lived, but they did not resist the call of the mighty Phoenix._

_They were warned that they would be given immense power at the cost of their lives, but the five still agreed to it for the greater good, and so the power was given to them with haste. _

_The help of many others poured in, and the great battle would start. For one thousand days and nights, the monks fought with inexhaustible strength against the Five Dragons. Finally, the beasts fell, but the Phoenix could find no suitable vessels to fully contain the power of the dragons. _

_A young monk, with eyes like fire, volunteered herself to be a vessel for sealing._

_An old master, with a will of steel, volunteered himself next._

_The patient man, calm as a tree in stormy weather, volunteered himself as well._

_The optimistic leader, balanced and rock-steady in all things, volunteered himself._

_The conservative and intelligent girl, with a heart as calm as a stream, volunteered herself._

_The Phoenix questioned their decisions, and when it saw that none would turn from their answers, enough of the power of the beasts was sealed inside the five humans so that the rest of the volatile power could be contained inside statues of gold._

_Calling upon the power of Gaia, the Phoenix built five tombs of infinite space in seventy-seven days. The monks were sealed alongside the gold statues, and it took seventy-seven days to reseal the tombs completely. _

_The witnesses to the event created the first shrine in seventy days and seven hours._

_At that time, the lives of the monks ended, but their souls ascended into new forms of power…it was so that they remained as the mystics in the center of the infinite space. They were given the names of the mystical beasts of the Four Constellations._

_Azure Dragon of the East._

_Vermillion Bird of the South._

_Yellow Dragon of the Center._

_White Tiger of the North._

_Black Tortoise of the South._

_The abandoned vessel of Water drifted on to parts unknown, and the first of the Chosen was born seven years after the completion of the original shrine of the Five Dragons._

_The God of Wind, having seen the courage and determination of the five humans, pledged himself to be the guardian of all of the world's Chosen, and committed himself to become the Hero of Justice as he wandered the Earth for all eternity, the War of the Blazing Sky having ended once and for all. The legends of the Heroic God of Wind began that day, and have been recorded in the pages of Time. Those pages have been scattered across the Earth in a great mystery, and once assembled shall reveal a grand truth known only to the gods themselves._

_The successor to the legend will cut through the bonds of the world's despair…as it is written, so shall it be done._

Finishing her story, Xuan Wu patted the younger girl's head with a smile.

"He _is_ the successor, and he _will_ make it through this. Rest, and do not worry yourself any longer, Yilin." The teenage girl nodded, and they both rose to their feet.

"All done, there?" the voice of Zhu Que rang out. "If you're finished boring the kid, let me take her to a few interesting places!"

"As you wish," the black-haired girl said impassively. "You have as much time as you need."

"C'mon, Yilin. I'll give you a _real_ history lesson!" the redhead said as she ushered the teen away.

"You still have not lost your touch for story-telling," Bai Hu said with a smile. "Even in the old days, you managed to impress an iron-headed old man like me."

"Thank you." She looked to the starry heavens above. "I…have not quite gotten used to this. There are so many strange feelings bubbling up inside of me."

"Is it because of him?"

"It must be…my heart is stirred by his courage and selflessness. I want him to succeed, more than anything else. If this world is to be safe again…we must realize that dream…"

* * *

><p>Sonic felt his head hit the top of the dome. The water was just about done rising.<p>

He took a deep breath as he finally went under, and the dragon started to prepare itself for an attack. The hedgehog floated in the depths, already knowing what he had to do.

Placing his hands in front of himself, he gathered a sphere of water into them, all the while slowly bringing his hands together. The dragon rushed towards him, but he used a burst of wind from his right hand to propel himself downwards, just out of its reach. He continued compressing the ball in his left hand before transferring it to his right again, still gathering the surrounding water into the spinning ball.

The White Dragon came back, and Sonic placed both hands around the sphere as the dragon whipped its tail at him. He took the hit and flew into one of the walls, struggling to hold his breath in as he focused on the water sphere. Another charge and he flew to the other side of the dome, again slamming into a wall in pain. He dodged the massive jaws closing in but was slammed again by the metal tail, causing some of his precious oxygen to leak out of his mouth.

His air starting to dwindle, he compressed the ball even tighter, taking a hard smash to his head that nearly knocked him out. He regained control, with his vision blurred badly and the water getting heavier around him.

_Almost there…_

He saw the dragon produce a massive metal blade from its mouth before charging him. His chest was burning, lungs crying out for air. Bubbles escaped the corners of his mouth as his eyes started to dim.

_Russian Roulette, huh…guess I have no choice…_

The water was compressed as far as it could go. He held the sphere tightly in his right hand as the blade came for his head. He could hear that temptress, the goddess of death…she whispered in his ear, telling him how much she longed for his company.

Five feet left and nowhere to run. The metaphorical revolver pointed to his head didn't have an empty slot in it - fully loaded.

He wasn't supposed to get out of this one.

His right hand surged forward.

He was going to pull the trigger anyways.


	16. Wrath of the Dragon, Act 8

He squeezed the ball in his hand, and a thin jet of water shot out from it, shearing right through the dragon's head and out the other side in a heartbeat.

The wobbling blade filled his sight with red water and oxygen bubbles as it cut his face. The metal dome crumpled outwards on the other side where the water jet affected it, and its integrity failed it eventually after a few seconds of struggle. The water rushed out quickly, bringing Sonic and the White Dragon down to the metallic floor swiftly.

The hedgehog stood up, clutching the deep wound and blinking his eyes…only to realize that one of them was failing to work properly. His left eye was a dulled green as a slash awkwardly crossed it diagonally. Unknowingly, the contact with his left hand was healing the wound and stopping the bleeding there, but his vision was beyond repair and a sheet of red flowed down from the other cut above the eye.

He hacked out water and stomped as much water out of his shoes as he could before sheathing his sword, noting the dragon moving slowly through the skies again at low altitude. The hedgehog's patience was worn out and he was in the most infuriating type of pain…he didn't bother to draw his blade again as he raced towards the dragon, shoes lighting up in bright light.

"You'd better speed up, or you'll regret it," he snarled.

The dragon responded by stopping and letting out a loud roar, trapping the hedgehog in a large block of solid, extremely thick and suffocating metal. Water filled it up and pushed against the sides with so much pressure that nothing could have survived had it been in there.

"You didn't listen to me..."

Sonic was in the air above the dragon by now.

"So now you're dead."

In a streak of light, Sonic slammed a fist into the dragon's side. "One."

Before his image even had a chance to fade, he hit a different spot. "Two."

Another. "Three."

"Four."

"Five."

He landed on the ground before springing back up at an insane speed, moving so fast that it looked like there were a million copies from every point in time converging on their target.

The illusionary hedgehogs all blended together at the zenith of the real one's punch, which stopped an inch in front of the dragon's head.

But that was not the end at all.

"Disappear."

A massive burst of light shot forward from the space in front of Sonic's fist, seemingly out of nowhere, and completely wiped out the dragon in an instant. The white orb resisted for a moment before crumbling into dust and disappearing as well in the light.

Sonic landed with a thud on the metal floor and dropped to one knee, wiping away the blood on his face. He looked down at his smouldering right hand and clenched it tightly, trying to ignore the pain as he did for his useless left eye.

"Hrm…needs more work…"

Cursing under his breath, he left for the last of the Five Dragons, Water.

* * *

><p>"One more to go…soon, you'll be complete! Isn't that wonderful, my pet?"<p>

"…"

Kiriko was still bound in chains, lying in pain on the cold ground beneath her. The dragons' powers were tearing her apart with each moment, mentally, physically, and spiritually.

"Will your hero come for you? It seems that the Chosen hasn't come back for a useless tool such as you, so what hope should you have for your master to arrive, hm? Wouldn't you like to see him one more time?"

She could feel herself changing as time wore on. Her quills were becoming longer, growing in a jagged pattern like lightning bolts at the back of her head and sticking straight backwards. The small pattern of her quills that covered her left eye shot forward and became sharp, like thousands of little needles pointing forward. Her muscles were starting to expand and become tenser, and she could feel her teeth growing sharper and larger.

She rolled onto her back and felt a strange warmth come across her…she wanted to embrace it badly, and she did, letting it flood her body. The warmth turned to stinging, burning energy that reached across every part of her body, changing fur, her physique, her eyes.

A drunken sigh escaped her lips as she lay motionless, simply waiting for the last piece to fall into her being. She wanted to be whole and complete. The darkness wrapped itself around her, and she smiled gleefully as it did so, eyes blinded as to what it was doing to her in every way.

"I…want to rescue my master. I hope there's enough time to do so."

"Rest assured," the blue-eyed temptress said, "time will always be on your side."

"I love my master….I will do anything for his sake."

"Even kill him?" The question was asked with the answer already known.

"Yes. Even kill him," Kiriko replied with a demented smile. "If I cannot have my master…then nobody can."

* * *

><p>Tired and hurting badly, Sonic walked down the long hall and into the last of the tombs, where the Blue Dragon resided. A long catwalk led him into the center of the area, and it was suspended over a strange mix of deep water and massive green trees.<p>

"Water engenders Wood," the hedgehog mused coldly.

He didn't feel anything as he reached the circular platform at the end of the catwalk. The waters were calm as he looked below his feet, and it was then that he noticed that the sky wasn't what it was supposed to be.

It was made of water.

Heaven and earth crashed down on the hedgehog as he stood watching…

The Blue Dragon materialized from the crashing waves and lunged at the hedgehog, completely consuming him in a swirling torrent of water. He was tossed and turned, his body brutalized by the powerful tides inside of the dragon. His body was cut and pierced by sharp spears of wood, tainting the waters red.

Jagged vines pulled him under the raging waters as he held his breath, choking him and trying to deprive him of air. The dragon stayed in place underneath the waves, and minutes passed before all went silent inside of its body.

Not a sound came.

It was in the next moment that everything stopped moving.

* * *

><p>an: Short chapter here...apologies if anyone feels short-changed 'cause of it, but my completed scenes for this part came out like this. Hope you enjoyed regardless.


	17. Wrath of the Dragon, Act 9

a/n: Hey, all. As always, thanks for the support. Here's the next chapter.

* * *

><p>In a short burst, Sonic used Chaos Control to freeze time around himself, slipping out of the vines and breaking the surface of the waters before time started to move once more. He was rocked and rolled as he climbed up the dragon's interior with his sword, stabbing it into the 'walls' to bring himself higher and higher up.<p>

The thrashing about intensified, and the hedgehog wondered about trying to warp himself out, but that probably wasn't the best idea…there was likely water on all sides. He closed his eyes and lowered his head as his suspicions were proven correct – a cascade of water crashed over him in the next moment, leaving him even more soaked and irritated. He coughed up more of the liquid and spit until his mouth was nearly dry.

The climb up would be long, very long. The degree of difficulty was rigged against him, and if the dragon wanted to, it could just as easily drown him by taking in a massive gulp of water. Sonic felt his injured eye throb in pain, stung by the water as it washed into it. Time was not on his side, and his energies were low from the previous two battles.

He hung from his sword, calming himself and thinking deeply on what he could do in this situation...he was on the inside, so there weren't too many options at his disposal. The first one he thought of was extremely effective, but came at a high price if he failed to finish cleanly.

"The most effective use of my energy…I'll have to double down this time, then."

He withdrew his blade and let himself fall back into the deep waters, all the way to the bottom where his feet became trapped in strong vines. He ignored them and focused himself, flooding his left hand with energy while gripping his sword tightly.

The waters raged around him as they did before, the dragon trying to strike fear into his heart as his oxygen slowly leeched away. The vines tightened around his ankles, but he held his ground and continued focusing what was left of his power.

In one fluid motion, Sonic swung as hard as he could upwards, but the sword escaped his grip at the highest point and spun upwards like a wheel. It met with a huge rush of water as the dragon completely filled itself up, leaving Sonic nowhere to escape to.

It was then fortunate that he had no plans to run away.

_"Dumber than you look…"_

He knelt to the ground beneath him, pulling back his left hand as it glowed brightly.

"_Sayōnara, haisha._"

* * *

><p>"The time has come."<p>

Xuan Wu opened her dark eyes slowly, waiting for her comrades to arrive. They all came within about a minute, Zhu Que and Yilin bringing up the rear.

"You felt that?" the red-head asked.

"I think we all did," Quing Long replied. "It seems that the task has indeed been completed."

"Kid's the real deal," Bai Hu commented, smoothing out his white hair.

The door at the entrance to the hall opened, and the hero appeared before them.

Yilin gasped and stood frozen in horror. "Sonic…_Sonic_! What happened…? You…"

All manner of wounds covered the blue hero's body, cutting into and through his jumpsuit from head to toe. Blood dripped freely down one corner of his mouth, and his left eye was visibly wounded, a faded green as it failed to function. He walked like one of the undead, lurching forward with each step while he dragged his sword in his left hand, and held a glowing white orb in the other.

"He's…using the orb's energy to keep himself conscious," Bai Hu said with amazement. "I didn't think that was possible without absorbing it completely."

The hedgehog looked over at the orb, and without a second thought, mercilessly crushed it into shards. Blood dripped onto the floors below as the sharp pieces pierced his hand.

"Mission…complete…"

He fell to his knees before hitting the floor face-first, body completely still and lifeless.

* * *

><p><em>Where'm I…it feels cold around here…<em>

_Think I'm floating…can't remember too much at all, 'sides watching that dragon crumble from the inside out…_

_Man, I'm tired. My body's sore, too. This reminds me of that time…yeah, me an' Chip fighting Dark Gaia. All that energy got pulled out of me, and I felt so weak, but…I managed to push through, transform, even. I remember passing out after beating Dark Gaia…Chip saved me and went back into the Earth…_

_Feels like that time. Just a bit worse, though. My body's really taken a beating…_

_Ames…she can probably feel this…I'm sorry, Ames. I couldn't keep my promise to you. But I'll make it back home, safe and sound. I promise that much…I love you. I love you so much, and I know you'll understand why I'm not going to rest right now. Watch over me, 'kay? Pray for me, just like I know you've been doing for so long. _

_Big Guy…I guess in the end, s'all up to you. You seem to be letting me get back up, so I'm gonna get back up. Anything happens…take care of Ames for me._

_It's so hard, but I've got to keep my promise…gotta get up. _

_Just one more time…_

* * *

><p>Staring in disbelief, the six humans in the room stepped back from the blue hedgehog as he rose, pushing himself off of the floor with his arms. He coughed up blood, wiped it off his mouth with his sleeve, and continued to rise until he was on his feet.<p>

His feet shuffled forward to face the spectacle ahead, in the center of the grand hall.

A long, flowing dress adorned her body, painted in five brilliant colours: green, red, yellow, white, and black. It had five coloured ribbons that floated behind her as she stood serenely, her fur a velvety black, seeming to sparkle in the light as it shone onto her.

She opened her eyes slowly, presenting them as bright and golden orbs; carrying an air of superiority inside of them as she surveyed all that was in her sight.

"Master…come home to me. It is all your poor, humble servant asks of you…"

"I have unfinished business. I can't go with you."

She simply smiled, summoning a golden katana to her hand. "There is nothing more important than this, Master. If I must end your life to save you, I will do so…this is the depth of my love for you…"

"Stop mocking me, y'loser. Use your own voice and speak up."

"Mm…" Kiriko's innocent voice was gone, replaced by a sultry and sadistic tone. "You weren't enjoying my performance? Pity that…I guess we'll wrap things up early, then."

Sonic took his stance, holding his sword in front of him.

"You're on your last legs," Kiriko said playfully.

"Whatever you say…whatever you do…whatever happens next…"

He stared at her defiantly.

"This. Ends. **Here.**"


	18. Final Story: Extended Submission, Part 1

a/n: And here we go. Hope you all enjoy.

* * *

><p>"Everything okay, Amy?"<p>

She turned to Tails as he spoke. "Yes, everything's fine."

"We won't be here too much longer…just need to refuel for the moment and check a few things."

"I understand. Take as much time as you need."

Her thoughts turned to her other half as she sat in the back seat of the Tornado, Sonic and Tails' bi-plane. A pull at her heart told her that something was wrong, but that feeling lightened after a few moments. She could hear someone faintly…telling her how sorry they were for not keeping their promise.

"Sonic…it's alright, as long as you come home to me. This is what you do, right? I've accepted that you'll be in danger and will get yourself hurt sometimes…"

Clasping her hands together, she said a short prayer for her love as Tails came back.

"We're good to go. Spagonia's pretty close from here, and we could always stop in Apotos if anything."

"It's up to you, Tails. I don't mind at all."

"Fair enough," he said with a nod. He climbed into the pilot's seat and kicked in the engine, setting the propeller in motion as the plane started down the runway. It took off into the skies a moment later, and Amy closed her eyes, intending to go to sleep.

"Be safe…my love…"

The plane rose into the clouds steadily, and soon she was dreaming away.

* * *

><p>Sonic took off in a burst of speed, putting all he had into attacking his opponent. Steel clashed with steel as the hedgehogs locked blades, sending waves of energy into the air with each impact. Sonic's green eyes locked onto Kiriko's gold in anger and defiance, and she looked back upon him with a dismissive air, as if he could do nothing to stop her or change her ways.<p>

Their battle raged on and on, swords turning into blurs as they moved through the air quickly.

"You seem to be doing well enough…shall I stop holding back?"

"…"

The blue hedgehog forced himself through the heaviness of his arms as he parried his opponent's attacks, but only barely as her arm began to speed up. A bored look crossed her face as Sonic struggled to keep up with her.

"I thought that you would show me something a bit better than this…"

"…"

Her tempo continued to increase, and Sonic knew that he couldn't block everything that came at him. He instead selectively parried some blows and blocked others, letting the rest of her strikes cut into him painfully as he tried to counter attack. A straight stab managed to cut the girl's cheek, and she slashed him across the chest in anger. She then slapped him across the face with the flat of her blade, sending him stumbling back as his vision blurred.

"Not very sporting, are we?" Sonic said with a sneer, shaking his head of his dizziness.

"You…_trash_. How dare you…"

"You _love_ me, right? Can't you just let this slide?" he asked with a mocking smile.

Her eyes narrowed as her blade extended forward, aiming for the hedgehog's chest. He parried it as best he could, sending the blade right through his shoulder. She retracted it as he winced in pain.

"I've had enough…I'll just show you what suffering really is. Your servant would tell you of her time with me, if she were still in control of this body…but I can give you the grand tour myself. You don't object, do you?"

She snapped her fingers, trapping Sonic's arms and legs in blocks of stone as they rose from the ground. She stuck her katana into the floor and sauntered over to the trapped hero, her gloved hands turning metallic. A loud smack sounded around the hall, and she smiled in satisfaction as blood dripped down from his mouth. She slapped him twice more for good measure, watching his head roll from side to side as she did so.

"…Hm…when does the fun start?"

A part of the girl wanted to lash out in anger, but she smiled sweetly instead, intending to savour his pain once he broke. "Whenever we want it to, my love…"

Her hands suddenly became very hot, and she leaned close to him as they hovered over his chest.

"Let me know when it becomes too much to bear," she whispered.

"Don't worry, babe. I like it rough," he shot back with a weary smirk.

"That's good…so do I."

Across the way, the five mystics stood in formation around Yilin, watching the battle as it went on.

"I don't like this…don't like this at all," Zhu Que muttered. "We should be in there, helping…"

"We can't do anything against her power, not at our level of strength. If my theory's correct, the Tomb of the Void has also been drained of all of its dark essence by now, and it is within that girl's body," Quing Long explained. "That would put us even further out of her league."

"Quing Long speaks the truth," Huang Long followed up. "We can do nothing but watch…if we interfere, it would likely result in not only our destruction, but the worsening of the battle for Sonic as a result of our powers being absorbed.

"We can only sit here and watch, protecting the Chosen," Bai Hu added. "Such is our fate in this moment in time."

"…"

"This is ridiculous! Look at that, she's…she's doing all those things to him, and we're just going to sit here and do nothing for him? What about the time that we stood against the dragons ourselves? What about our courage back then?" Zhu Que argued. "What the hell happened to us?"

"!" Xuan Wu let out a gasp as something came to her attention.

"What is it?" the white-haired man asked. "Something the matter?"

"Back then…back then, we had the Phoenix on our side. If we could just call upon it for a moment, we might be able to help Sonic, somehow…it's worth a shot…"

"That's what I'm talking about! What do we have to do?" Zhu Que asked eagerly.

"Focus our energies on Yilin…as the Chosen, she has the ear of the higher powers around us. We need to try and contact the Phoenix."

"Do you think…it will work?" Yilin asked timidly.

"We don't know, but it's all worth a shot!" the red-headed woman replied. "I won't be useless for another second!"

"She's right. We can't throw in the towel just yet," Bai Hu agreed.

Kiriko looked over from Sonic's battered frame for a moment, catching the humans in the start of their plan.

"Ah…up to something, I see."

Raising a fingertip, a swirling ball of black and white energies appeared above it.

"We can't have outside help, can we, my love? It'll ruin the atmosphere. I'll just rid us of these distractions…like so…"

"Guh…!" The hedgehog struggled to free himself, but to no gain as he was locked down tightly. With a twisted smile, she pointed her hand forward, letting loose the torrent of energy towards her prey.

Huang Long reacted first, putting up a solid wall of earth in front of the blast to slow it down. Bai Hu placed a wall of metal behind it as reinforcement, and Quing Long created a barrier of trees just in front of the two walls, intending to stop the energy further. He also mixed a torrent of wind along with Zhu Que's stream of fire and Xuan Wu's burst of water, trying to overpower the energy wave as it drew closer.

"How touching! Do you see that, darling? They're using teamwork to try and stop me, just like all of those ages ago when they stopped the dragons in their heyday. I would shed a tear if I weren't having so much fun watching them squirm!"

"Stop it! This is between you and me! Leave 'em alone!"

"Oh no, they would surely meddle in our time together, which is why I'm getting rid of them. You see?"

With little effort, she forced more energy into the stream, pushing the mystics' power further and further back.

"We can't hold out!"

"Keep trying, dammit! Don't hold anything back!"

"Energy's fading…!"

"I…cannot…go any further…"

"We must try and survive…we must try…"

Yilin stood behind them all, tears pouring down her face. The glow from her bracelet started to dull and fade away.

"There's nothing left…it's all hopeless. Nothing anyone can do…there's nothing…"

There was…anger. His heart was filled with anger, not for vengeance, or for power, or for his own desires, but for the people around him.

He could remember the terrified looks of the animals on South Island as they struggled in cages. The terror in the eyes of those from West Side Island. The pain of the echidna as he lost his most treasured possession, his reason for being. The screams of Station Square as the water tore it and its people to shreds. The resignation of Shadow as he disappeared in a ball of flame. The torment of Westopolis as Black Doom brought hell on Earth.

He remembered the tears of his friends as he was launched into space. Amy's cries as she was stolen away by Metal Sonic.

His hands shook, and he couldn't stop them.

He remembered the sorrow as Dark Gaia turned people into monsters. The burning pain when the darkness took over him as he transformed. The cries of the Wisps as they mourned the destruction of their homes, as they were transformed into monsters because of their energies.

He remembered the crippling pain of each journey, the times that his drive, his determination, his faith, his very existence was being tested to the breaking point and beyond. He remembered the cheers, the cries of celebration, the hatred and anger, the love, the bitterness, the solitude, the fear…he remembered the fear of every step…he remembered conquering each one of those fears and more…

He remembered it all…and he remembered her most of all.

His right hand crackled with energy. His left glowed brightly, in an aura of white flame. Bringing both hands forward, he summoned his strength and broke through his rocky shackles.

Kiriko blinked at the sound, but saw nobody there. Her anger pushed further, she poured more energy into her burst, and obliterated every attack that opposed her. The area was wiped from existence in a single moment, the walls and floor and everything in between having disappeared.

The girl's head turned to the other side of the room, eyes widened in utter disbelief.

The six humans stood there, tired, but otherwise fine.

A gloved hand gently wiped the tears from Yilin's face. Her bracelet glowed brightly once more.

"Smile for me, okay? I'm gonna take us through, like I said."

She nodded, a smile coming back onto her face as he walked away.

"I think we got off on the wrong foot, Dragon Lady. So I'll start us off right by introducing myself. As I always say, I die hard."

"What..._are_ you?"

He smirked, the cuts gone from his face, and his left eye working perfectly without a scratch on it. His jumpsuit was as good as new once more, seemingly a brighter shade of orange than before. His body jumped with energy, arcs of electricity jumping out over his frame in various places as he stood. The gloves on his hands had single blue stripes across the top of each, and his shoes were restored to their colour from five years before, golden buckles shining brightly.

"Been asked this question a lot of times before…but to answer it, well…what you see is what you get; just a guy who loves his planet, his girl, and his daily dose of adventure! **I'm Sonic the Hedgehog!**"

"You…I see…" Her golden eyes narrowed as she called her golden katana back to her hand. "I'm not going to let you live…your adventuring days are coming to an _end_!"

He drew his blade, holding it with one hand in a reverse grip. His other was in front of him as he took a stance, fingers clenched in a claw shape and pointing outward.

"The moment we've been waiting for," he said in a hostile tone. "Alright, Kiriko…time for me to finish this."


	19. Final Story: Extended Submission, Part 2

a/n: As always, thanks for the support. Here's the next one.

* * *

><p>With his first step, he disappeared from sight. With his second, he stepped around his opponent and delivered a slash to her back. With his third, he dodged the burst of flame coming for his head, and with his fourth, he stepped back towards her, throwing a quick jab that sent her off balance for a split second. He followed it up with a roundhouse kick that just missed her head as she ducked, but he swung his free leg out and tripped her, recovering fast enough from his previous attack to come down with a stomp onto her head.<p>

She made her hands metallic, blocking Sonic's foot and attempting to toss him away, but he spun in her grip and quickly brought his other foot down on her face, making her nearly break her neck as she barely avoided another stomping. He flipped out of her hold and dodged a stream of flame as she breathed out.

Kiriko shot forward at high speed and aimed forward with a stab, missing as Sonic stepped to one side. A sharp spear of metal extended from the side of her katana, seemingly catching the blue hedgehog off-guard. He simply jumped straight up and used the sharp metal as a grind rail, aiming for his opponent with a low slice as he came closer. She blocked with a wall of stone that rose up from the ground, and he jumped over it, landing on the ground beside her before slamming her with a quick elbow. She was sent into the stone wall and bounced for a moment, just enough time for the blue hedgehog to palm her face and slam her right through the wall, sending her tumbling back as he let go.

Kiriko rose with a snarl on her face and slashed towards Sonic from long range, sending a huge wave of water towards him. In retaliation, he slashed back, sending a burst of air at the wave and pummelling it into water droplets. A brief downpour started as the two warriors struck at each other again, sending waves of pressure around the hall as their blades clashed. The walls seemed to have had enough, starting to crumble from the continued abuse.

The hedgehogs danced around each other, just like the first time that they met. Sonic couldn't help but take note as he parried Kiriko's strikes with one hand on his sword.

"Feels just like old times, huh?" he quipped.

"Your little servant girl is _gone_. There is nothing we have in common, besides the desire to see each other dead."

"Nah…we don't have _that_ in common, either."

"You are a fool."

"Darn straight. A fool for love, a fool for good company, and a fool for big adventure. I'm one irrational dude, once you get to know me."

"Must you _always_ rabble on?"

"I can't help but get excited when things are going my way, lady."

She smiled at him, licking her lips. "Well, my darling…they won't be going your way for much longer."

"Sounds like you're gettin' frisky…might as well play along, yeah?" he said with a smile of his own.

He stepped back before ducking underneath her swing, driving an elbow into her stomach. She lurched backwards before stomping the ground, creating a fissure right underneath Sonic's feet. He caught himself with his sword, stretching it across the gap while it was still narrow, and then launching himself upwards into the air. He came down in a violent spin, his sword held out in front of him as he came down on Kiriko's head. She raised her katana high to block, feeling it start to chip away as the blue buzzsaw pushed against it. She inhaled before exhaling a burst of wind, sending Sonic flying backwards into a wall. He hit it feet first before launching himself back at her, parrying a sword strike and leaning into a kick that dropped her to the floor.

Rolling quickly, she popped back onto her feet and whipped her hand out, sending metal stars at the hedgehog as he ran. He stopped and caught all of them effortlessly, but was hit by a jet of water and sent for a ride across the floor of the hall. White-hot fireballs chased him down as he slid, and he moved into a handstand before raising his right hand in the air.

"Sonic Wind!"

The vortex took shape and shot out from his palm, wiping out one of the fireballs in an instant. He landed back onto his feet before using another technique.

"Storm Eater!"

With the flow of wind reversed, Sonic pulled the fireball into a spiral around his right hand, and followed up by firing it back out at the last incoming attack, watching them explode in mid-air. He shot forward with a Sonic Boost, crashing into Kiriko and sending her back-first into the wall on the other side of the hall. She let out a low growl as her eyes flashed, and raised one hand to turn the floor below them into a shifting sheet of metal.

"Now the fun can begin," she whispered to herself, mentally sending up a sharp blade of metal at the blue hedgehog's feet. He swiftly dodged and had to adjust himself even faster to dodge the next strike as it came for him.

"No safe place to be, huh? I guess I'll have to get moving and find a way to stop her."

Sonic kept his feet pounding against the ground, dodging the sharp obstacles that entered his path within a split second. His eyes never bothered to focus on the path in front of him, but rather at the hedgehog girl staring at his form with murderous intent. Every movement was based on pure instinct, the disturbances in the air around him guiding his feet to safety each time.

"Still uphill…"

Kiriko started moving, lashing out with her katana and cutting into the floors with the pressure from her swings. Sonic countered by doing the same, dancing around the sharp metal blades while trying to get a hit in on occasion. She caught him with a vine shooting out from the sleeve of her dress, pulling him into a searing punch as she lit her gloved hand on fire. She followed up with a burst of fire from her mouth, sending him crashing into the ground some distance away. He rose up and pushed off the flames in a burst of wind, already dodging her swings as she came towards him.

After chasing him without success, she came to a stop and held both hands in front of herself, a circle of black and white energies swirling around her feet. Intending to stop her, Sonic charged forwards, only to be met with a rising metal wall that boxed in his opponent.

She was planning to end everything in one shot, he realized, and that wasn't the ideal situation. Exhaling slowly, he took his own position and concentrated with sword in hand, waiting for the right moment to make his move.

Everyone in the area could feel the energy in Kiriko's hands pulsing, growing larger and more dangerous by the second. Her defensive barrier wasn't let down for a moment, and she calmly continued to gather more and more energy into her hands.

_This will end it all…_

Her eyes opened, and in a flash, she sent her attack through the barrier she had created, aiming for the blue hedgehog in front of her. The entire hall was lit up with a blinding light, the ground torn apart like tissue paper as Kiriko gunned her adversary down.

He had all the time in the world to dodge to one side, to easily counter her attack in some way. He had the time to put up a defence, maybe even create a suitable counter-measure with his skill.

Instead, he simply gathered energy into his right hand, a dull glow rising from it as he stood. His eyes surveyed the rush of white light coming towards him, and he could hear the cries of panic from his friends as it devoured the entirety of the hall in its movement.

"Find a weakness and exploit it..."

He stepped forward and felt the burst of energy hit him full force, but maintained his composure, thrusting his right hand forward with two fingers pointed ahead.

"Now's where we end this…**Hurricane Cannon!**"

A shot of blue energy split the destructive light in two, shooting right for the hedgehog girl as she stood unawares. Her eyes widened as she felt something tear right through her chest, and immediately, the energy flowing from her hands stopped as she dropped to her knees, her vision starting to blur from the pain.

In a split second, she was rocked back into reality as Sonic held her against the crumbling wall, his forearm with its frayed orange sleeve pressed against her throat heavily. She shifted her eyes downward and could see his left hand at his side, glowing white-hot as if it were on fire.

She growled as the damage from the last attack had healed, and shoved him off of her quickly, calling her katana to her side…but he said something that didn't click in the heat of the moment until she felt herself back against the wall somehow, in more pain that she had ever been before. She could see her own outline in the walls as she was slammed deeply into them.

"What…what is…" Her speech was sluggish, exhaustion creeping into every part of her frame and sticking to it stubbornly like gorilla glue. Feet were inches off of the ground, and she could feel the air weave in and out of the tatters of her once elegant dress.

"I think we should end it here, don't you?"

His arrogant, biting tone got to her. She screamed in spite of her fading strength and summoned a barrier of black energy as she transformed, the beautiful dress disintegrating as complete darkness took over her form. It took the shape of a black gown that reached to her knees and hung off her shoulders, her feet bare and hands equipped with sharp nails. Her golden eyes stared strikingly at Sonic as majestic wings sprouted from her back, one white and one black.

"End? No, this is but the beginning for you, dear mortal. You'll have the pleasure of being crushed under my heel for all eternity."

The ceiling of the grand hall was torn apart with a snap of her fingers, revealing the starry heavens above.

"Very soon, I'll have my way with you…"

He shook his head in irritation, offering nothing but a hand towards her as he stood firmly on the ground. As the words came out from his mouth, she remembered exactly what he had said the last time…and as her eyes widened in horror, she realized _exactly_ what he was going to do. And this realization…

…was a moment too late.

"**Chaos Control.**"


	20. Final Story: Extended Submission, Part 3

a/n: Sorry for the wait, everyone. On with the show, and thanks for the support, as always.

* * *

><p>With the colours of the world around them inverted, everything had come to a complete stop.<p>

He jumped into the air, seemingly walking on top of it as he reached her, pulling her still frame into his arms before falling back to earth softly.

"And now…"

He set her safely on the ground as time resumed moving.

"Back to our scheduled programming."

She only blinked as he stood in plain view. He simply waved back at her.

"'Sup."

He punched her in the stomach with his left hand, sending her to her knees immediately.

"I was gonna do something more brutal, but I thought about it, and then I was like 'nah, let's keep it simple this time, Blue.' So here we are," he said in a cavalier tone.

He got several violent coughs in response as she tried to stand back up.

"Ah-ah-ah! Don't bother with it, babe. I'll just send you back to the floor soon enough."

Ignoring his comment, Kiriko pushed off of him and flew backwards into the air, teeth bared in fury.

"**You-**"

She started to scream out, but stopped halfway when she realized the hedgehog was gone.

"People just don't like to listen, huh?"

Kiriko felt her head nearly come off as she was punched downwards towards the ground at a frightening speed. Her opponent was somehow waiting for her below, promptly kicking her to one side as she came within range. He was then off to the side at that same moment, driving an elbow into her chest and sending her bouncing along the ground into his waiting foot as he appeared on the other side of the room. He kicked her straight up into the skies above before greeting her once more with a driving knee that sent her back down again.

She landed back first onto his waiting fist as it was pointed straight upwards.

"Those who can't hear…"

As it had happened before, a massive burst of light exploded from the space just above Sonic's fist, swallowing up Kiriko for a few brief moments as she was lifted into the air violently. Her body landed back onto Sonic's outstretched hand before she was dumped sharply onto the floor.

"…simply need to feel," he finished. She desperately tried to rise up, getting to her knees before exhaustion set in. Her nails were broken and the wings on her back destroyed. She winced painfully as her body smouldered, her golden eyes dulled from their former prominence as she shook in misery.

"You just had to make me brutalize you…man, talk about stubborn," he said with annoyance. "Why don't you just give up already?"

"I…won't…lose to you…"

The girl found herself slammed back into the ground as Sonic grabbed her harshly by the neck.

"I'm finished playing around with you, Dragon Lady. Give me what's mine," he said coldly. She managed a weak laugh at that.

"Ah, I see…you want her to come back to this body…do not think that it will be that easy…"

He said nothing, instead raising his left hand and placing it above her chest.

"If you choose to use that ability, God of Wind, you will end up destroying your servant girl as well…"

"Yeah, that sounds about right. If she doesn't have her own heart and soul, or her own desires, I guess that would be the case. But I think that it's a little more complex than that…though it doesn't matter in the end."

His left hand glowed brightly once more, an aura of white flame surrounding it as he placed it on the squirming girl's chest.

"Is your hand quite comfortable, _my lord_?" she said with a sneer.

"It sounds like you're trying to make this more awkward than it needs to be," he said as the glow around his hand brightened. "You're not really succeeding."

"Aha-ha….you…you will lose everything here…"

"I somehow doubt that, unless she was full of empty words that time."

Thick black smoke started to rise up from Kiriko's body, her fur starting to return to normal along with the rest of her body as the darkness was being expelled from it.

"So much power…hm…I never thought I would see this end…"

"Do you consider yourself real?"

"I am only a…manifestation of the darkness of the dragons…how can I exist as anything else…?"

"Who sent you?"

"Someone that you should know, O God of Wind…a someone who would foster our hatred against you like this without remorse. She threatens your existence and that of all you love…"

"Her name?"

A weary smile. "I have no name to give…"

"…"

"The light is painful…but…"

Her golden eyes faded away with the last of her consciousness. Sonic focused himself for the final part of his task.

"Where there is light, darkness cannot hide. **Hurricane Spark!**"

The burst of purifying light rushed through Kiriko's form, and Sonic released his hand as her eyes closed, her body becoming still. The five mystics along with Yilin rushed over to the blue hedgehog as he rose, looking over the girl silently as she lay there.

"Defeating the weapon of destruction…truly, the legend has been reborn in this age," Huang Long said. "You have the gratitude of all of us, and the people of this planet, Sonic."

"…Thanks, I guess," he said softly. "I did what I had to do, that was it."

"What about her?" Yilin asked, referring to Kiriko. "Will…she be okay?"

"It all depends on what she wants. I've got no say if I want to do this right."

"What do you mean, Sonic?"

"It is…the same as the legend. Only he does not wish to create a contract," Xuan Wu replied. "It is his desire that she claim her own right to life…with her own hands…"

"What happens if she fails?" Yilin asked with worry.

"Then that is the end of it all."

"…"

Looking over the hedgehog girl as she lay still, Yilin clasped her hands together in prayer.

_Come back to us…Kiriko…_

* * *

><p><em>Where am I? It's so dark…<em>

_This heaviness is making it so hard do anything…I feel weak…_

…

…

_Haa…snap out of it, Kiriko. How far are you from the surface? You can see it, right?_

_Therefore, there is no reason to mope about. My master is waiting for me. _

_As I thought, the surface is getting closer and closer to me. I'll be with him soon, I know that. _

_Because I love him._

_A chance to find myself, my own personality and heart and soul, he is giving it all to me in one shot. How foolish would I be to waste such a gift?_

_All I need is to see him again, and everything will be fine. I feel lighter and lighter as I go…ah; there I am, breaking through the surface._

_Fresh air…it has never tasted so good before. It is as if I have been drowning for hundreds of years._

_I am finally breathing._

_I am finally…me._

* * *

><p>"Master…"<p>

Her eyes fluttered open as she was caught up in a warm hug.

"Ah…?"

"I'm glad that you're okay."

She smiled, feeling his warm voice touch her heart again. It felt like an eternity had passed since they had been this close.

"I am too, Master."

He released her, a slight frown showing on his features. "You really don't need to call me that. We're friends, Kiriko."

She stood up, brushing off the dirt on her tattered white dress. "So we are friends. But you must understand, Sonic…I am indebted to you, for everything that you've done. As your friend, I want to help you in any way that I can. Can that not include serving you as best as I can?" she said with a tilt of her head to one side.

"Uh…I guess…"

"I _want_ to be your servant, as well as your friend. I want to fulfil my duty to you, because it's part of who I am. This isn't all about you, you know. I'm _happy_ that you're my master. I love you more than anything or anyone else…so I want to stay by your side. And most of all…I want to see you happy. Because it makes _me_ happy."

He was stunned for a moment before shaking his head with a smile. "Man…remind me not to get into any arguments with you, Kiriko."

"I can be stubborn too, Sonic," she said with a wink.

"That you can be…anyways, I think this party's over. We should be heading back…unless…"

He turned to the five mystics.

"Anything else I need to do?"

"Just watch your back," Zhu Que said. "And keep a cool head."

"An interesting example of…irony," Xuan Wu said with a smile.

"Ah, whatever."

"You'll go far, son. Just be careful, and take care of business as usual. At home and abroad," Bai Hu said.

"I have nothing more to say, Sonic. Go in peace and safety," Huang Long added.

"I wish you the same," Quing Long replied.

"Where will you guys be going?" Sonic asked.

"Our work in this realm is over for now," Xuan Wu answered, "But because of the actions of the Goddess of Fire, we may return to assist you if it is required."

"Goddess of Fire…do you know…?"

"We do not. But we know that she is acting against you."

"I see. Perhaps once I uncover the other pieces of the legend, I'll figure out what's really going on."

"It might be so…" She took Sonic's hand and placed five coins in it, each one a different colour. While he looked at them in wonder, she kissed him on the forehead softly before leaving with the others.

"Carry our dreams safely, Sonic the Hedgehog…"

The five humans floated away before disappearing into the starry heavens above.

"I will…"

"Master, I feel the tombs..."

He dropped the coins into his pocket. "Yeah. Let's get out of here. This place doesn't have much left in it."

Sonic swept up Yilin and let Kiriko drape her arms around his neck before taking off. The grand hall gave a terrible groaning before falling to pieces slowly, disappearing into nothingness.

"Master…which way do we go?" Kiriko asked from her position on his back.

"Dunno. But if you can't find an exit…"

He smirked as more energy flowed into his legs.

"Just make one."


	21. Extra Story: Forest's Shadow

a/n: It's another one. Story's not quite over, but you'll know when. Enjoy, and thanks for the support.

* * *

><p>"<em>Yare, yare…<em>"

Sonic yawned, picking leaves out of his jumpsuit as he sat on a stone pillar, recently fallen. He had a combination of irritation and boredom in his green eyes as he looked at the man standing a few yards from him, Colonel Dao of the People's Liberation Army.

He choked a few sneers at the thought that he was being hunted down like a common criminal once again. If Amy found out, she would go off like a rocket…

"You seem bored, Mister Hedgehog."

"Where's Kiriko?" he asked, ignoring the previous statement.

"She should be fine."

"For your sake, I hope you keep your word, Colonel."

The conversation ended there for the moment, as Dao watched the large crowd gather near the blockade his soldiers had put up. He suspected the young girl that stared intently at the hedgehog had something to do with this incident, but he had no proof. He'd just have to leave that alone for the time being.

"…"

"You do know that we'll have to report this to the proper authorities…"

"Go ahead and do what you want. Are you holding me on charges, or not?"

"What is that girl's relation to you?"

"I am his loyal servant," a new voice answered. Kiriko appeared behind the colonel, dressed in a hooded sweater with a knee-length skirt. She sat herself down beside Sonic, casually crossing one leg over the other. "Is there a problem with that, Colonel?"

"I don't think anything of that _nature_ would be legal."

"You're implying a sexual relationship," she said bluntly. "It's not like that, since my master already has a mistress. But you knew that already."

"How old are you, Miss…"

"Kiriko." She looked over at Sonic for a moment, giving him a smile. "Kiriko Hoshikira."

"Well, Miss Hoshikira…we'll have some more questions for you and your 'master'. Again, how old are you?"

"My true age wouldn't be something that you could comprehend," she stated haughtily, "but let's say eighteen for the time being."

The silver haired officer took a drag from his pipe. He knew that he wasn't getting anywhere like this. With all of the smoke, dust, and debris, he had no concrete proof that the blue hedgehog was behind the shrine's destruction…and even though he suspected it, how could he make an entire shrine _disappear into nothingness_ like that?

What could have possibly occurred inside, _had_ he been in there, was a matter of legend and speculation. The girl he was with wasn't kidnapped, nor held against his will – he had entered the village with her about a day or two ago, not nearly enough time to completely brainwash someone.

Dao looked at the blue hedgehog as he stared downwards, seemingly in mediation. There wasn't the usual smug look from years before…he was cold, refined to a point.

"Where did you get the sword?"

His head rose. "Something I found on my travels."

"Dangerous?"

"Very much so. Though a _paperclip_ is dangerous enough in my hands, Colonel."

"Noted," he said with a sigh. Thick white smoke again wafted from his pipe.

"I really hope that we don't have to sit here screwing around for much longer," Sonic said icily. "I've got things to do."

"Master…perhaps they could answer a question or two for us?"

He thought about it for a moment before nodding in response. "I get what you're saying. Ask away, then…"

"I only have one question, Colonel."

"What would that be?"

"Was there anyone in proximity to the shrine within the last month or so?"

The colonel blinked. "Interesting question…I guess the higher-ups would know something like that. I don't have that information handy."

"So…there might have been someone else in the area long before us."

"It's possible."

"Thank you. May we leave, now?"

He grunted before signalling his subordinates, allowing the two hedgehogs to leave for the edge of the blockade.

"It was nice talking with you, Colonel," Kiriko said with a smile.

"The pleasure is all mine, Miss Hoshikira."

Sonic only gave him a nod before following his charge.

* * *

><p>A half-hour later, Sonic and Kiriko were enjoying some meat buns back at the shop. He relaxed for the most part, while she marvelled at wonderful her food tasted.<p>

"Master, you're not hungry?"

He quickly snatched a bun from her hand, causing her to frown as he gulped it down.

"Not really."

"Hmph." She took another bun and munched on it while she read, a small book spread out in front of her on the table.

"Find anything?"

She shook her head. "No…"

"Then we just follow the wind as it goes. Nothing too difficult. I think we'll be alright as long as we do that."

"I suppose," she said while running a hand through her quills. Somehow, they had become a bit looser and formed into jagged patterns sporadically at the back of her head. The ones that rested over her left eye had a bit more curl to them, something she didn't mind, though they had a 'wet' look to them. Probably a sign of her water nature coming back into power.

Some of those strange changes from the transformation stuck around, including certain…upgrades, as a delicate way of mentioning them.

She was taken out of her thoughts as their human acquaintances arrived.

"Hey, so the legends were true after all," Chun said with amazement. "Whoa. Didn't think you'd be able to pull it off so quickly, too. Must have been epic."

Sonic shrugged. "Might have been. I don't really rate my own performances anymore."

"Are you leaving, Sonic?" Yilin asked.

"Not quite yet. I think we need to figure out what we have to do next before anything else. I want to check a few things…is Hualin around?"

"She went on a walk with Grandfather earlier. But I'm sure they've both noticed what was going on at the shrine."

"Probably."

Jinlin walked in from the kitchen, surprisingly without a cold look for the blue hedgehog as he sat at his table.

"Evening, Miss Jinlin."

"Good evening, Sonic."

He gave her an amused smirk. "Seems that times have changed. I assume that you're not mad at me anymore?"

"On the contrary, I thought that you would be upset with me, with the things that I said…"

He waved it off. "No harm, no foul. As long as you're cool."

"…Thank you. I mean it," she said with sincerity.

"No worries." She smiled at that and went to pick up the empty plates.

"More buns?"

"Sure. Another plate, please."

"Coming right up."

"Didn't think Mom would flip back so easily," Chun commented as she went into the kitchen.

"That's because she's stubborn," Hualin interrupted, mussing up her brother's hair. "She didn't want to believe that such a 'bad guy' would end up being the legend she had followed for so long."

"Followed?" Yilin asked curiously.

"Mom was a huge fan girl, so to speak," Hualin said with a grin. "So she knows pretty much everything about those old legends with the God of Wind that we have around here."

"That's interesting," Yilin said with a nod. "Maybe I can ask her more about this later."

"She probably knows a lot of things…more than she lets on," Hualin replied with subtlety. Sonic nodded in response and rose to leave.

"Tomorrow's a good place to start our investigating. I'm gonna clear my head and get some rest. See you guys later, alright?"

Kiriko rose and touched him on the shoulder. "Is everything alright, Master?"

"Yeah…don't worry about me, Kiriko. I just need time to think."

She closed her eyes and nodded. "I understand, Master. I'll see you in the morning."

"Right…" He started out quietly, taking off in a blue blur as soon as he left the front doors. Kiriko sat back down and bit into another meat bun.

_A lot on his mind…might it be about the Mistress? Or something beyond that? _

Either way, worrying wasn't going to help anyone.

_He will talk to me when he is ready. I have no problems waiting for my master._

* * *

><p>"Should be right here," Tails said as he and Amy walked the streets of Spagonia. The Italian city was bustling as usual, people weaving in and out of shops and strolling along the old stone streets. Vendors selling <em>gelato<em> were everywhere you looked, and there was a good restaurant on every corner.

"Boy…this place makes me hungry," the fox grumbled, rubbing his stomach.

"Your fault for not taking a lunch break," the hedgehog chided him. "You said we're close, so tough it out."

"Alright, alright…can we at least…"

"No _gelato_ until _after _your meal, young man," she said with a finger wag.

"What are you, my mother?"

"Big sister. Close enough."

He relented. "…Point made. Let's keep going."

After a few more minutes, the pair reached their destination, a massive building to the east of Spagonia University. SunDriver Technologies was a massive corporation, built with the sole purpose of bettering the planet through advanced technologies and tools that would conserve, reuse, and harness energy from different sources. The creation of natural resources was also possible with some experimental tech that Tails had helped design in his spare time.

The company's owner, founder, and C.E.O. was known simply as the Boss. He kept his real name secret…for business purposes, of course. An American with big dreams and even bigger ambitions, he was a nice guy all around. Apparently, he wasn't always this way, but something caused him to have a change of heart.

Tails wondered what it could have been, but put the thought behind him for the time being.

"I guess the Boss is waiting for us up there," Amy said.

"Hopefully, he'll have lunch…"

She rolled her eyes. "Quit whining, Tails…let's go."

The fox groaned for a moment before hearing something beep on his wrist. He pressed a button on his cuff, causing a screen to appear in front of him in a wave of light.

"What's happening now…?" Reading the data, he stifled a curse before shutting off the light source, the screen going with it.

"Tails?"

"I'm okay. Just…_huuuuuungry_," he suddenly moaned in an overdramatic fashion.

"Will you _stop_…you brought this upon yourself, now deal with it. I'm going forward," she said with a shake of her head.

She strode off, missing the snarl that came from the fox as he bared his teeth. He knew that _they _were there, watching their every movement. Watching _her_.

All they needed to do was make a single movement towards her…he would be _too_ happy to make them suffer for it.

_I just __**wish**__ one of you would try to test your luck…_

He managed to suppress his rage as he followed the pink hedgehog inside.


	22. Transitions: Intro to a Cold World

a/n: Last, but not least. Sorry about the delay, and hope you all enjoy this chapter.

* * *

><p>Kiriko walked slowly through the trees of the forest, searching carefully for the blue hedgehog nearby. He couldn't have drifted too far, could he?<p>

"Where are you, Master?"

Her head turned quickly to one side, a signal reaching her just then. He wasn't too far from her location. Moving slowly ahead, she encountered a slowly rotating ring of water with a smaller sphere inside of it. The 'Satellite' technique that she had developed was coming along nicely, though it was still incomplete now.

Absorbing the watery object through a finger, she trudged onwards until she reached the edge of a waterfall, where her master was standing. She carefully walked along the rocks that lined the rushing waters, feeling droplets splash onto her as she moved. Her master was silent even as she reached his side, looking at him with a mixture of curiosity and concern.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

His answer was short and quick, to her displeasure. She sighed and stood silently beside him.

The wind whistled by the two and the noise of the raging waters nearby dispersed any possible silence in the area. There was a strange sort of calmness about the place, despite all of that. She again looked over him with worry, golden eyes attempting to glean some kind of information.

"Your eyes have changed," he said suddenly.

"I noticed this morning, Master."

"Anything happen because of that?"

"No, Master."

"…" He again fell into silence.

"Master," she said timidly, "Please tell me what's wrong…I want to help."

"There's nothing wrong, Kiriko. I'm just thinking."

"Share your thoughts with me, Master. I want to be of use to you," she pleaded.

"It's alright. You've done enough."

"If you're worried like this, I obviously _haven't_ done enough," she protested. "So I must do what I can for you."

He opened his mouth to argue and then decided against it, staring back into the girl's determined eyes.

"I'm just wondering about whatever's going on. About Amy and everyone else. I think…this is something far bigger than it seems to be. The wind is telling me to go north."

"Why are you worried?"

"…Someone's watching her. I don't know who, and I don't know why, but someone's watching her every movement. I can't have anything happen to her, because…because I don't know what I'd do otherwise. Probably something terrible, more or less."

"Do you think that it has something to do with the legends, Master?"

He turned and walked back towards the forest, Kiriko following behind. "It might be connected, but I don't know for sure. All we can do now is move ahead and see what happens."

"If I can be of help, Master-"

"You've done enough, I told you that already," he said quickly. "Stop worrying, okay?"

"I can't help it, I mean if you're upset and thinking so hard, then it's my job to be of assistance, and if I can't do that, I'm useless, aren't I?"

"What are you-"

"And I don't want to be useless! I don't want to be a burden to you, just because of who I am! Just tell me what I need to do, and I'll do it!" she said with fervour, her voice rising with each word.

"Kiriko-"

"I know that I've caused you nothing but trouble and that I said I loved you, and wanted t-"

"Stop," he said, grabbing her shoulders roughly. "Just…stop."

Sonic sighed and continued on his way, rubbing his head. Kiriko walked behind him, dragging her feet with her head hung low.

_I made such a fool of myself…how could I be so stupid? Just babbling on about my own problems like that…_

"Kiriko."

Her head snapped up, facing her master's stern gaze.

"I don't need this right now. Neither do you. Stop worrying about what happened in the past. Stop thinking that I'm anything like your old master. Stop trying to be everywhere and everything at once. You're not just a tool for me to use. If you want to serve me, serve me by being a reliable partner. If you don't want to be useless, make yourself useful. Just do what makes sense. And _stop_ trying to solve every problem that comes up in front of me, because most of the time, _you_ can't do it."

He turned and walked off.

"You're your own woman. Start acting like it."

She stood in place for a few moments after he left, trying to take in his words. There was some sort of disconnect there…was he angry with her? Frustrated at her actions? How would she go about doing what he said without getting in his way?

Did this mean that he didn't need her all that much?

Was she only as useful as the situation required her to be? As _he_ required her to be?

Autonomy? Independence? A sense of self-worth?

What did any of that _mean_? Wasn't her purpose to serve, no questions asked? She didn't have another foothold, or another directive. 'Be your own woman'? What did that mean?

Why was this so confusing?

Her head was heavy with thoughts as she started to walk again, but stumbled on her own feet and fell to the dirt.

_I can't even move properly…I don't know if I can…_

With a grunt, she rose and started on her way again, brushing past the trees in front of her. Everything was so much easier when she knew her role, when she knew exactly where she was going. Confidence, ingenuity, devotion…those all came from her security as his loyal and faithful servant. There was only one identity to tend to, only one to maintain.

Now there was a second, with maybe more to come…and she didn't know if she could handle the extra responsibility.

For his sake…if _only_ for his sake, she felt like she had to try.

At this point, it was the only way to move on.

* * *

><p>Shadow dropped a book onto the desk of Vector the Crocodile, who turned the volume down on his headphones as he flipped it open.<p>

The innocuous-looking apartment was the current base of operations for the Chaotix Detective Agency, which had grown into a surprisingly competent operation over the past few years. With an extra boost from Sonic's short time on the team, they had become both famous and infamous in the world of crime and surveillance. At Vector's behest, they still took any and every job that came their way, no questions asked…well, at least at first. Espio always saw to it that the team wasn't compromised by Vector's somewhat blind ambition – the crocodile _meant_ well, but he had a tendency to leap before he looked.

Vector was misguided, but the chameleon also knew when to give his leader space to operate – the crocodile was far from stupid, despite his aloof attitude.

"Somethin' about Chinese legend?" he muttered.

"It's related to Sonic."

Vector nodded before unplugging his headphones, letting the up-tempo jazz music flood the room as he secured them around his neck. "Go on," he said, gesturing for Shadow to take a seat, along with Rouge who had accompanied him. Espio brought the guests tea, which Shadow declined and Rouge accepted gratefully.

"I did some digging with my security clearance. He's in China right now, and the military's investigating the destruction of a shrine near a small village, called Chun-nan," Shadow said. "Apparently, he was under suspicion for the event, but lack of evidence forced the Chinese Army to let him be for the time being."

"You think he was there because of something in this book?" Vector asked, tapping his fingers to the music softly.

"If not that, then he's tied to some sort of prophecy or future outlined there. The most relevant one relates to the 'God of Wind'."

"Gut feeling?" Espio asked.

"More or less. There wasn't much else to go on at the time. I looked up the reports along with Rouge."

"There was mention of a girl, named Kiriko Hoshikira. Said she was 18, but there was something suggesting she was hiding her real age. They weren't all that sure, apparently," Rouge said with an eye roll. "She was with Sonic when he was found near the shrine. She also was with him for a while in the village, staying at an inn room that he paid for. But the strangest thing, apparently, was that she wasn't with him when he first entered the village. Not only that, but she doesn't have any records, not with the Chinese, the Japanese, or anyone else that would make sense."

"G.U.N has been sent the relevant information and is working on more theories. They're interested in tracking Sonic's activities as well as those of Amy Rose, but it has gotten more difficult for them in Italy," Shadow continued. "Prower's still in tight with her, but they haven't caught onto the fact that he knows it's them. They tried to dummy him into thinking it was another organization, but that's backfired on them spectacularly."

"…So Sonic has to put together the pieces of the legend…"

"What d'you mean, Espio?" Vector asked. "What pieces?"

"During my travels, I heard briefly about these types of legends…they were scattered throughout history, and only the ones closest to those legends have knowledge of them. In other words, the village elders and their families." He flipped the book to a page titled 'Exploits of the God of Wind'.

"If this is the case, then Sonic will have a lot of travelling to do. It is my belief that your organization," he gestured to Rouge and Shadow, "knows that this is the case."

"You think G.U.N's wasting time on ghost stories?" Shadow asked incredulously.

"Stranger things've happened, Shadow," Vector pointed out. "Chaos, yourself, Black Doom, Dark Gaia…all things that've been pulled up from a bunch of old stories and cave writin'. Maybe your bosses've gotten tired of being the last to get dibs on ancient secrets."

"It's possible," the black hedgehog conceded.

"It's all just speculation at this point," Espio added. "We need to keep gathering information."

"I don't know if I can do this from the outside for much longer," Shadow noted.

"You won't need to."

All eyes turned to the ivory bat as she sipped her cup of tea.

"That so? Why's this, all of a sudden?" Vector asked with suspicion.

"I stumbled upon a few things while digging for information…put them back as neatly as possible, of course, but not before taking a copy for my own use. Shadow and I are to head up a team that will investigate the movements and actions of Sonic the Hedgehog. Full authority…and the orders to complete the mission by any means necessary."

"Any means," Shadow echoed.

"Lethal force is authorized…and encouraged," Rouge said coldly. "We neutralize him if circumstances require it."

"They're willing to off him so quickly?" Vector said with surprise. "Man…what the heck's going on?"

"I don't know, but it means that we have even less time to figure this out," Shadow replied, folding his arms across his chest. "When does it all start, Rouge?"

"Announcement's next week. Mission starts the morning after, 0600 hours."

"Someone's pulling the strings pretty hard back there. Any plans, Espio?" Vector asked.

"We move. And fast. Tails should know of the situation as soon as possible…"

Shadow leaned his head towards his partner's ear. "Is there a reason you didn't mention it before…?"

"I just filtered in the info myself, while we were on our way here. You know I'd never hide anything from you, right?"

"…Yeah. Sorry if I-"

"Don't worry about it," she said with a smile. "I know you're just looking out."

He nodded softly, closing his eyes in meditation. As she sipped her tea, she started to feel badly, because she in fact _was_ lying to her friend about something unrelated. Her pride refused to let anyone in on the secret that she held, and it would stay that way until the job was done. This was something that she had to deal with by herself…for her sake, and everyone else's.

* * *

><p>A pair of sparkling blue eyes looked out to the horizon as her private plane waited on the asphalt. Sighing to herself, she walked with her bodyguards towards the jet, a contemplative look on her face.<p>

The first attempt hadn't worked, but she had much, _much_ more in store, now that she knew her enemy.

One of the keys to her final solution was currently in Italy, but she wouldn't go after it just yet.

"I think he can wait a little longer…I want him to reach the 'perfect state' before he can fulfill his destiny."

After she boarded, the jet took off into the cloudy skies above, destination unknown.

Nobody knew it at the time. Nobody _could_ know it.

Everything was just beginning.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Sonic the Hedgehog<strong>__ in_

"_Wrath of the Five Dragons"_

**- end.**


End file.
